Eddie Baby

Chapter 3

"Hey (y/n)." I turned to see Dustin and Mike coming down the hallway. "Hey." I walked over to them. It's just one hour before the Hellfire Club campaign starts. "We found our other person." Dustin was grinning ear to ear. "Awesome, who?" I looked between them, and that's when Erica Sinclair started walking down the hall. "Is that Lucas' little sister?" Mike and Dustin nodded their heads. "Oh, okay." I wasn't sure about it, but they knew better than I did. "Hi, Erica." I greeted her, she didn't say anything to me, but she looked at Dustin and Mike. "Are we going to go in or just chat?" She seemed serious about it; she was kind of intimidating. Even though she's in middle school, she is a girl I wouldn't want to mess with.

"Yeah. We're going in soon. Meet us down there." Dustin pointed down the hall. Erica looked me up and down, "Hmmph." And she walked off down the aisle. "I don't think she likes me." I look back over at Dustin and Mike. "That's okay; she doesn't like many people," Mike said, so matter of fact. "Don't let her get to you," Dustin reassured me. "I'll be in a minute, you guys. Go on in." The two of them followed Erica to the room where Hellfire Club was being held. That's when I noticed that Erica had an American Flag cape around her.

"Just go in there and look confident," I said to myself; I wouldn't let anyone else intimidate me. Even though I am attracted to Eddie Munson, I would love to tear his clothes off and just... "Stop it!" These intrusive thoughts weren't helping me. "Just go in there and say "Hi Eddie, I'm (y/n)..." I stick my hand out, pretending that Eddie is shaking it. "No, no, too formal." Thankfully I was by myself in the hallway. "Hey, what's up, Eddie? Remember me, it's me (y/n)." I shook my head, "Jesus Christ." I didn't want to sound like a complete moron in front of him.

"So Eddie... how are you? I'm (y/n)." I heard someone clear their throat behind me; I jumped and turned around. And, of course, it's freaking Eddie Munson looking at me like I have two heads. Shit! "Oh, hi, Eddie." I felt my face get hot yet again, this time from embarrassment. He probably thinks I'm a fucking weirdo. "Are you coming in or not?" He didn't seem too happy to see me right now. "Oh yeah, on my way." He turned around, and I sauntered in behind him. What a way to make a real first impression in front of a guy you like.

Once we entered the room, there was a table surrounded with tables; it was dimly lit. I saw the other members of the Hellfire Club standing around. Eddie didn't even seem to notice that I walked in after he did. He sat back down in his seat and looked over at Dustin and Mike. Eddie looked at Erica, and he didn't seem too impressed by their choice. Dustin walked up a bit, "Here's our other member." Eddie looked back over at Erica and back at Dustin. "Absolutely not." Eddie wouldn't give them a chance to explain why they chose Erica.

"You asked for a sub. We delivered." That was the response Eddie got. Eddie still wasn't too thrilled, "This is Hellfire Club. Not babysitting club." That's when Erica said, "I'm 11, you long-haired freak." Damn, she's going to be a lot of fun to have around. "My, my the child speaks. Eddie replied. Eddie's friends started to laugh, and then he stood up and walked over to Erica. He looked down at her. "So what's your name, child?"

"Erica Sinclair." She wasn't going to give in to him and be afraid. Eddie laughed, "So this is Sinclair's infamous sister." Erica looked over at Mike and Dustin, "He's sharp." Jeff and Gareth laughed, Eddie looked over at them, and they stopped. "What's your class and level? Level one dwarf?" They started laughing again, and I was standing there, not knowing what they were talking about. "My name is Lady Applejack. And I'm a chaotic good half-elf rogue, level 14...." Dustin Mike looked scared, and everyone else was silent. "I will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri. And I'll smile as I watch them die a slow, agonizing death." She stunned everyone. Even Eddie was speechless. "So, we gonna do this, or we gonna keep chitchatting like this is your mommy's book club." Eddie just stood there for a second and then gave Erica a big grin.

Then Eddie looked over at me, the grin fading from his face. I swallowed the lump in my throat; he was making me nervous. "What about you?" I waved his hand in a shooing gesture; he looked me up and down. I stood up a little straighter, "I'm (y/n), and I don't play D&D, but I was hoping to learn a thing or two by watching everyone here." I tried to sound somewhat confident. Eddie folded his arms to his chest and was half sitting on the table, one leg over the other, still looking at me. After about a minute of silence, "No." he shook his head and got up from the spot he was in, and sat back down in his chair. It was like a slap in the face. "What do you mean no?"

Is he serious? "Eddie, let's give her a chance; you let Erica in." Mike chimed in. "Are you kidding me, Wheeler?" Eddie looked at me, "She doesn't know shit about D&D. At least Sinclair's sister has some experience with it." He looked me up and down again, "I'm not going to let her in. That's my final word." Everyone went to their seats and sat down except for Mike and Dustin. "Eddie, please, maybe you can teach her a thing or two?" Dustin tried to convince him, and it was sweet, but there was no chance they could change his mind. "Can we please talk about this?" Dustin walked over to Eddie. "There's nothing to talk about, Henderson." Eddie didn't look up at Dustin and he was too busy setting everything up and moving things around. "Let's play!" Eddie said.

"What about me?" Everyone turned to look at me except for Eddie, and it killed me that he wouldn't even look my way; I didn't belong in Eddie Munson's world. "You can come over this way." Mike pointed me to the other side of the room, and I didn't even get to sit down with the rest of them.

This campaign has been going on for about an hour, and I sat here silently watching them play the game. I still had no idea what the hell was going on, but every once in a while, I kept looking over at Eddie, but he was too focused on the game to even look my way.

Who the heck is Vecna? Apparently, they thought he was dead. "Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or stand your ground and fight?" If it were me, my ass would flee; why the hell would I want to fight this Vecna guy, creature thing? They all agreed to fight to the death. Gareth rolled these dice things and didn't get what he was supposed to get, so it was Jeff's turn and nothing. Mike took his turn, but again, nothing. It was weird, though, there were different kinds of dice, and you had a get a certain number to fight. I keep forgetting the guy's name, but he called time out. Everyone formed a circle to talk to, and I felt alone standing here. It seemed fun, and I wanted to be a part of it. I heard them say they should flee, and Erica said, "Didn't we just agree "to the death?" And Gareth replied, "That wasn't literal." They really take this D&D stuff seriously. I looked over at Eddie, who was still sitting there; he was already looking at me. I had to look away quickly and didn't want him to see my cheeks turn red. All I could think at that moment was that I was some kind of loser.

Eddie decided to interject on their conversation and explained that there was no shame in running. "Don't try to be heroes. Not today, 'Kay?" Dustin put his finger up to let Eddie know to give them a minute to talk it over. Eddie looked amused; I looked back over at him. He was such a good-looking guy; I loved that he didn't give a shit what people thought of him. I got to admit the long hair suits him well, and I wish I could just put my hands in it. I'd love to hear him say my name, and I'd be pulling his hair, screaming his name. Jesus Christ, it's getting hot in this room, and I can feel myself getting wet. There's no shame in being attracted to this man.

After a few minutes of deliberation, they came to the conclusion that they would continue, but Dustin and Erica were the only two that can roll. It was going to be risky, and it was a 20-to-1 chance. "Never tells me the odds," Dustin said. "Give me the D20." He gave it a roll, "That's a miss." Eddie did this head-banging thing. "Shit!" Dustin was pissed.

Now it was Erica's turn; it was their only chance of defeating Vecna. She needed to get a 20. Erica had the dice and shook them, and dropped them on the board; everything was moving like it was in slow motion. It felt like it was taking forever, but the dice landed on a 20. Everyone started screaming, jumping up and down. "What? What?" Eddie couldn't believe it; he was being funny about it. I got up and ran up to everyone and started jumping around with them. It was an exciting moment for them. "That was so crazy." I couldn't believe that happened. "I know. We need to celebrate." Dustin yelled and patted Erica on the shoulder. "Yeah, let's get out of here." Mike, Dustin, Erica, and everyone else walked toward the exit. Except for Eddie, he stayed behind to pick everything up. I wanted to offer my help, but it was best to just leave him to it.