Master of Puppets

Chapter 3

In the back of Argyle's van, Eddie was wrapped in several layers of blankets as Jonathan sped down the highway.

Dustin had opted to ride with them, leaving a note for his mother that he'd had a terrible nosebleed and went to spend the night with Mike. She'd kill him in the morning, but that hardly seemed like the most pressing issue at the moment.

"Dude..." Argyle mumbled as he stared at Eddie from the front seat. "You look crazy, man."

Eddie shivered and glared at him. "Thank you, detective."

"I'm sorry, are we all just going to ignore the fact that Eddie Munson is sitting in the back of the van when he should be six feet under the ground??" Robin asked, incredulously.

"It's a long story." Dustin shook his head. "We'll fill you in later."

"To be f-fair." Eddie said. "I don't even know why I-I'm here either."

"Are you cold or something?" Lucas asked.

Eddie closed his eyes and pulled the blankets closer, but it wasn't helping in the slightest. "I don't know. Everything is buzzing. My s-skin is freezing but I feel like I'm on fire."

They all exchanged worried glances.

"God, and I'm hungry. I'm fucking starving..." Eddie whimpered. He looked up at the group, and for just a moment, something crazed entered his eyes. The smallest flash of something not entirely human. Something animal.

"Eddie..." Dustin said, trying to get him to focus. The look quickly disappeared and Eddie snapped out of it. "Just hang on until we get to Will's house, okay? We're ten minutes away, tops."

Eddie sucked in a breath and nodded, closing his eyes tight.

-

Trailing close behind, Steve flew down the interstate. Eleven sat in the back seat with the other two boys, unable to peel her eyes away from the back of the van. Something felt wrong. A familiar, terrible feeling.

"Eleven." Mike worried. "Your nose."

She blinked and put a hand to it, only to find blood on her fingers. Her stomach twisted as she looked back up at the van.

Something terrible, indeed.

-

It took some convincing - but then again, what were they going to do with their dying(?) friend in the back of their van - to get Hopper to bring Eddie inside at 3 o'clock in the morning. The chief paced back and forth in the living room, while Joyce brewed some coffee for the both of them. She was almost just as anxious, but too tired to put up much of a fight. They both knew that when the kids said something was serious, they needed to listen.