The Banished | Stranger Things

Chapter One

Echoes of the Past

Eddie had always talked about leaving Hawkins, pursuing music, making something of himself. He'd even been scouted once by some girl who used to live in town, a mysterious figure named Page. She had this wild energy, like she knew exactly how to navigate the world beyond Hawkins. Eddie had been starry-eyed, full of dreams about being plucked from the mundane and dropped into the neon glow of L.A. He wanted to get the hell outta Dodge and live a life worth remembering.
But dreams are fragile things, and Hawkins had a way of chewing people up and spitting them back out.

I'm the same way, just my “Dodge” is Harlem, Georgia. And my idea of getting the hell out of it doesn’t involve driving twelve hours in my rickety old 1979 Toyota Corolla to prove my older brother’s innocence right after graduation. Yet here I am, sitting at my Uncle Wayne's old trailer, hands gripping the steering wheel, my chest aching with longing. The last time I'd been in Hawkins was for Eddie's funeral… Al didn’t show. Not even for his own son's death.

Al Munson, Eddie’s father, was a ghost long before Eddie died, disappearing whenever responsibility came knocking. He left Eddie alone for months, if not years on end. And when he did come back, it was usually to drag Eddie into some scheme or another—most notably getting him involved with Reefer Rick. Eddie always tried to shield me from it, his “little sister,” but I knew. I always knew what was going on, and it drove him nuts. “I don’t want you getting roped into my bullshit,” he used to say, the concern in his voice a thin veil over his guilt. I wish he had roped me in before he got ripped away from me.

But Dad—Al—not showing wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the empty seats at Eddie’s funeral, the glaring absence of the people who were supposed to care. No Ronnie, no Dougie, not even his bandmates. It felt like the world had turned its back on Eddie when he needed them most. And out of all of them, Ronnie not showing up hurt the most.

Ronnie Ecker had been Eddie’s best friend since they were in third grade. They were inseparable, partners in crime, always getting into some kind of trouble. I remember the way Eddie used to light up when he talked about her, how proud he was of her talent. “Veronica Ecker is going places,” he’d brag, his voice full of admiration. Even when Ronnie moved to New York to chase her dreams, Eddie never held it against her. He knew she was destined for something bigger, something brighter than what Hawkins had to offer.

But when Eddie died—accused of murder, the town's favorite scapegoat—Ronnie wasn’t there. Not even a phone call, a letter, nothing. I get it, maybe they drifted apart. People grow up, they move on, especially when one of them is in a city that never sleeps, and the other is stuck in a town where time seems to crawl. But I expected her to be there when he died, accused of murder or not. Eddie had always been there for her, and I thought that bond would mean something, even after everything.
‘Eddie Munson? He’s gonna die in this town…’ That’s what people used to say, and Eddie would laugh it off, like it was some big joke. But the joke was on him, because that’s exactly what happened. He died in Hawkins, accused of three murders. To the people here, he was nothing but an outsider. A freak. A murderer.

It was like the town had been waiting for an excuse to pin something on him, and when the chance came, they didn’t hesitate. They turned on him so fast, it made my head spin. The same people who cheered for him at the Hideout, who shared beers with him at parties, suddenly acted like he was a monster. And Ronnie, the person who knew him better than anyone, didn’t even show up to say goodbye.

That’s what hurts the most. Not just that Eddie died, but that in the end, the world saw him as nothing more than a headline, a convenient villain in their twisted narrative. They forgot the real Eddie—the one who played his heart out on that beat-up guitar, who cared too much about everyone, even when they didn’t deserve it. They forgot the Eddie who would have done anything for the people he loved, even if it meant sacrificing himself.