Once More, With Strangeness

Chapter 1

Becca stood on the porch of Reefer Rick's house, staring out into the woods. She was waiting for something but she wasn't sure what it was. She rubbed her arms gently to ward off the biting chill in the air. It was a fairly mild December but even with the bright sunshine, it was too cold to be standing outside with no coat as she was now. Why hadn't she grabbed her coat? The wind whipped through the sweater she was wearing and she idly wondered why she was out here.

A pair of arms slid around her waist, familiar silver rings on the long fingers that splayed across her stomach. She sighed softly, remembering that she was here because she was waiting for him. She leaned back into his chest, closing her eyes and inhaling the scent she knew so well, the scent that told her she was exactly where she belonged.

"I've missed you," he whispered softly against her ear, his long waves gently tickling her cheek and neck.

"I've missed you too," Becca replied. "God, I've missed you so much. I don't know how to do any of this without you."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have left me in that hell," he hissed, his fingers gripping her arms hard, fingers digging into her flesh as he spun her to face him.

Becca's eyes widened as she took in the man before her. It was Eddie but it wasn't her Eddie. Those sweet pools of chocolate she could lose herself in, that had brought her so much comfort and peace, were blazing a deep scarlett, hard and unforgiving. The soft smile that brought on those dimples she adored had been replaced with a snarling grimace, a mouth full of fangs, every tooth sharp and jagged. His veins ran black, running over every inch of skin like a sludge filled river. As she stared at him, two enormous leathery wings erupted from his back.

"Eddie..." she whispered, reaching for him but he flung her

away forcefully. Becca hit the floor and looked up to see, not the affection he always looked at her with, but pure hatred raging off a monster's face. "Eddie, what happened to you?"

"You happened to me! You told me you loved me. You told me you want to be with me forever and then you didn't even try to save me!"

"I did!" she cried out. "Eddie, I swear. I tried but El..."

"Don't do that. Don't blame others," he growled and then his hands were wrapped around her neck, cutting off her air supply. "You made a choice. You didn't choose me. You left me to die and now it's your turn."

Becca struggled for air, clawing at his hands, but he was too strong for her. Her vision was fading to black, that monstrous visage slowly vanishing to a pinprick of black. She almost welcomed it. It was what she deserved. Eddie was cursed to live in hell and she didn't want to live in a world without him in it anymore. Let him end it.

Becca shot up in bed, gasping, her chest heaving as she struggled to find any air. It felt like there was a weight pressing down on her, crushing her into the bed. This room was suffocating her. Sweat coated her body, her clothes clinging to her damp skin, and she flung off the covers, stumbling out of bed and into the winter night. Collapsing on the ground, she sucked down sweet gulps of cold, crisp air, relishing the chill on her skin.

She sat there until her entire body was trembling with the cold. Becca relished it, relieved to feel something, anything that wasn't the gaping nothingness her life had been for the last six months. The nightmares plagued her every single night. Sometimes it was Eddie's face as El blasted her back through the gate. Sometimes it was him, suffering, being tortured endlessly by monsters as he screamed for her to help him. Sometimes it was just like tonight, Eddie blaming her for deserting him in that hellhole. Sometimes he looked like her Eddie and sometimes he was a monstrous beast, her worst fears coming to haunt her.