Three Worlds Collide

Chapter Sixteen

~Two Weeks Later~

It has only been two weeks since that fateful night, unbeknownst to me, Eddie and Steve had a conversation where Steve promised to take care of me should anything happen to him. That night I promised him I would take care of Steve, and that is what we have been doing since losing Eddie, we have kept our word. Plus, I didn’t want to mourn our boyfriend with anyone else, but Steve. Everyone tried to understand what we were feeling, but they just couldn’t after it came to light that the three of us were all together. No one judged, thankfully, yet they just don’t understand the pain Steve and I share.

It has also been the hardest two weeks of my life. I haven’t felt pain like this since my mother’s death, yet this time it has hit me harder than that. Eddie, Steve, and I were literally talking about our future just at the beginning of the year, then suddenly part of that future was ripped away from us. We all agreed to finally leave Hawkins once Eddie and I graduated, but now it just doesn’t feel right to leave. We still have to fight, Vecna got what he wanted while ripping loved ones away from innocent people. I fear the fight more this time because there is that sickening feeling that not all of us will survive, and the last time that happened, we lost Eddie.

Luckily Steve’s house was far enough out of the way of the fissures that it stayed intact, with his parents being away majority of the time allowed me to essentially move in with him. My aunt and uncle didn’t like the thought of it at first, but eventually came around with the fact I spent more of my time over at Steve’s then their house. But on one condition, I finish out the school year no matter what, to which I agreed. I was going to graduate for both Eddie and I, it was our year and I was going to finish it for both of us.

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I wake with a start, a soft whimper dying down as soon as I sit up in my bed. I wipe my sweaty face, I sniffle softly while wiping my eyes, I turn my face when I feel Steve stirring in the bed beside me. “Y/n?”, his sleep-filled voice calls out for me. “I’m okay.”, I whisper out in response, he then slowly opens his eyes to look me in the eyes. He then sits up slowly with a sad sigh, “I’m here.”, he softly begins to rub my back while trying to comfort me. I shake my head softly, “I know, I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you Steve.”, I tell him. 

He places his forefinger under my chin to bring my gaze to him, “You have nothing to apologize for ladybug, I still have nightmares too. I completely understand.”, he states. I rest my head against his shoulder, “I just miss him so much babe, it hurts.”, a soft sob escapes my lips. Steve then wraps me completely in his arms as he lets me cry into his shoulder, “I miss Eddie too, so fucking much.”, I can hear his voice crack as he tries to keep himself from crying. 

My sobs finally stop, Steve pulls me back onto my back with his arms still around me, I calm a bit as he cards his fingers through my hair. I softly run my fingers over his chest, “Thank you for handling all of this with me, I don’t think I could handle this on my own.”, I tell him. “Of course ladybug, I know the feeling, I can barely handle it now, but you being here helps tremendously.”, he responds. I feel him place a soft kiss to my head as I begin to doze against his chest. We need more sleep before going back into town to the massive fissure where Eddie’s trailer once was. We all have been keeping an eye on it, Steve and I handle that fissure as a way to also mourn our loss.

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~A Month Later~

Nothing too big has happened yet, except for the tremors that rock what is left of most of Hawkins city center. Yet I continue to visit the same place every day with Steve, his arm never leaves my waist as we look up at the massive cloud of evil blackness, we catch red streaks of lightning lighting it up every now and then, the sounds of monstrous thunder shakes the ground beneath our feet. We look at the fissure with guilt, it had been deemed too dangerous to go back to retrieve Eddie’s body, a regret that eats at us every single day. We weren’t able to give him a proper burial, a burial he deserved. 

It isn’t until the sun starts to set that Steve and I decide to call it for the day, reporting back that everything is the exact same as it has been for the past month. I feel this feeling like someone is watching us, I turn my gaze to look over my shoulder only to see nothing at all, “What is it?”, Steve asks me as he notices me stopping behind him. I shake my head, “Nothing, just this feeling.”, I state, he gently takes my hand into his and begins to lead me away from the fissure once more. That feeling returns once more, yet this time I ignore it despite everything within me wanting to look back again.

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[Eddie’s POV]

It has been a month since that night, I watch from the darkened treeline as Steve and Y/n walk away from the massive fissure. Everything inside me is telling me to run to them, embrace them and show them I am okay, that I am alive. Yet I am not alive, I am something different now since that night in the Upside Down. I remember hearing Y/n’s and Dustin’s sobs and their heartbroken faces before everything went completely black. Suddenly everything came back, except the fissures within that place had grown to monstrous proportions, I wasn't sure how to even begin to get back to the real world, if I could make it or not.

There were also a few issues before I even thought about getting back here, my wounds were healing on their own at a slow pace. Then there was the issue of becoming a monster myself, I had died and came back as something not quite human and that terrified me to my core. How am I supposed to come back to my loves while being this thing, I had asked myself everyday as I figured out a way to climb out the Upside Down. Now that my wounds were healing more, they seemed to only heal after I fed, after I killed the deer I found along the way. I keep to the shadows as I watch Y/n and Steve, they come here everyday to watch the fissure as if waiting for something to happen.

But one day, some day, hopefully soon I can finally get back to them. I need to help them fight against Vecna once more. But only as soon as I heal completely, and get my new hunger for blood under control, the thought of accidentally hurting Y/n or Steve haunts me, terrifies me. I turn my head when a tiny demobat lands upon my shoulder, my new self seems to have the ability to control a few of Vecna’s creatures. This is a godsend now, it chitters as it looks into my golden eyes, “Keep an eye on them for me. Keep hidden though.”, I tell the winged creature, it chitters back in response before taking flight to trail after Steve and Y/n.

“I’ll be home soon you two, I promise that.”, I say aloud to myself, I feel a small smile grow across my face before turning around to head back into the woods. I keep my eyes and ears tuned into the sounds around me, getting accustomed to my newly heightened senses. The hope of reuniting with my loves keeps me going.

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The return of a hero may be exactly what everyone needs to completely defeat evil, he gave his life for the ones he loved and he is more than willing to do it again now that he is back.

Death can’t keep him down, but now there is a hunger he has to fight, to get under control before he can reunite with the ones he holds dear. But what will they think or react when they see him? Will they welcome him with open arms or run for the hills? Only time will tell.