Having Advanced Calculus with Mr Richmond immediately after O'Donall's was Nat's idea of a waking nightmare. She was on her own for this class, being the only one out of Hellfire that opted for it. "A stupid decision in all honesty," Eddie had said when she first told him. It was, but only for the fact that the only person who had ever spoken to her in that class was Nancy Wheeler, and that was probably out of pity, that and the fact she knew Nat and Mike were friends. The second pop quiz of the day went much quicker than the first, despite her loathing for Richmond and Advanced Calc, she was pretty good at it. The A+ that was scrawled in red ink on the paper at the end of the class showed it.
The bell rang and Nat slammed her chair back quickly grabbing her bag to leave, as she passed the front row of desks she jolted forward, slamming into Richmond's desk, scattering papers and books from it in the process. Shrill laughter echoed around the room as everyone gathered their things to leave. Nat turned, eyes blazing, staring right at Jason Carver.
"Where are you off to so fast, Freak?" He said, still sat, smirking. Beside him two cheerleaders giggled their approval. "Back to your little losers club?"
Feeling the rage bubbling inside her, she bent to quickly pick up the papers she'd scattered and put them back on Richmond's desk.
"Eat shit, Carver." She snarled, turning on her heel and exiting the room, fist balled at her side in rage.
Nat turned into the hall, she felt a heat in her stomach growing, bubbling, threatening to spill over. Jason had always been an asshole, to most people actually, but especially to Hellfire. They'd put up with it, to an extent, Nat had finally learnt to bite back every now and then. The problem with Jason Carver was that he was a coward, his taunts and jabs only came when she was on her own, or when he was backed up by the rest of the Hawkins Laundry Basket Squad. She passed everyone streaming out of their lessons, by the time she reached her locker she was seething with rage. No matter how many times Carver threatened, pushed, tripped or belittled her or the rest of her friends, she had never learnt to quell the simmering rage that always followed. She almost always wanted to hit him, punch him square in the jaw, but she knew it would get her nowhere and only end with further torment. Nat angrily twisted the combination into her locker and wrenched open the door. Her teeth were gritted as she breathed deeply through her nose. Calm down, she told herself, don't let that prick get to you. She stared at the back of her locker, haphazardly stuck with tac and some tape was several polaroid's of the Hellfire Club. The first, when they were only just formed. Her, Eddie, Gareth, Jeff and Chris, grinning wildly at Gareth's Ma' who happily took the photo for them. The most recent was of the renewed Hellfire Club, the original five, with Mike, Dustin and Lucas joining the fray. This one was one for the yearbook, the Freaks of eighty-six. Nat took another deep breath in, feeling her anger start to subside, she rubbed the palm of her left hand with her right, where she slammed into Richmond's desk, a dull ache had started there, it would likely bruise.
A hand on her shoulder caused her to spin, still holding her palm, already slightly on the defensive. "Hey there Sweetheart," Nat glanced up at Eddie who was staring down at her smirking. His eyebrows rose as he took in her scowl.
"Are you okay?" He asked, pressing his thumb to the crease between her eyebrows to get her to loosen up. He always said she scowled too much.
"I'm fine," she said, batting his hand away with a small smile. "Just the usual asshole."
"Carver?" He questioned, taking her hand and inspecting it, the cool metal of the various rings adorning his hands coldly kissed her skin. "He hurt you again?"
"Well technically, Richmond's desk did, but you get the jist." She looked down at their hands, then back up at him, his eyes glistened darkly with concern, she carefully pulled her hand away. "I'm fine Eddie, let's get to lunch."
He smiled gently at her, "As the lady wishes," he said, bowing his head slightly. She turned and shut her locker.
"Come on you dork, I hear there's meatloaf on today."
"Oh goody…" Eddie replied, sarcastically shaking his fists with joy. She chuckled, nudged him with her shoulder and together they walked to the cafeteria.
The majority of Hellfire were already seated as Nat and Eddie brought their lunch to their usual spot, the same table she sat at all those years ago. Unsurprisingly Eddie didn't go for the meatloaf, rather a simple sandwich, Nat did the same. The running joke was that the cafeteria meatloaf was never the best. Eddie had snatched a copy of Newsweek from the opposing table and began to flick through it while they sat.
"Where's Mike and Dustin?" Nat asked the rest of the table. The duo were normally the first at the Hellfire table. She earned a shrug from the rest of the group and bit into her sandwich.
"Here we are-" Eddie chuckled, peering over the top of the magazine to take them all in. He took on a low, newsreader voice as he began. "Dungeons and Dragons, at first regard it is a harmless game of make believe- now- it has both parents and psychologists concerned." Nat began to smirk. Ah, another article linking D and D to the Devil. What a surprise. She thought.
"Studies have linked violent behaviour to the game," he lowered the magazine slightly, his eyes widening a little with faux surprise. "Saying it promotes Satanic Worship, ritual sacrifice, sodomy-" his voice grew lounder, "Suicide and even-" he dropped the magazine, slapping it to the table with his hand, "Murder."
They all chuckled as two trays dropped onto the table and Mike and Dustin joined them. "Society has to blame something, we're the easy target" Chris said shrugging. Nat let out an annoyed puff, crossing her arms over one another.
"Exactly." Eddie was looking over the rest of the cafeteria, "We're the freaks because we like to play a fantasy game." He shook his head and looked from Chris to the rest of them and then back to the cafeteria rabble. "But," his annoyance was evident as his head bounced to one side and he slammed his hands on the desk, rising up onto the table with one large step. Several people in the cafeteria turned to stare.
"As long as you're into Band, or Science, or parties-" Eddie looked each of the cliques over as he said them, earning a swift middle finger from the guy that Nat assumed thought he was cool because he was wearing shades indoors. "Or a game where you toss BALLS INTO LAUNDRY BASKETS!" He was staring directly at Jason as he shouted it. Several murmurs came from the cliques as Jason stood to his feet, Nat smiled broadly, Eddie loved goading him.
"You want something Freak?" Jason shouted, rolling his shoulders. Eddie threw his hands up to his head, mimicking devil horns, stuck his tongue out and let out a strange garble. Nat laughed as Jason muttered something she couldn't hear before he returned to his seat.
"It's forced conforming," Eddie said as he turned back to them and sauntered back down the length of the table, he winked at Nat as he passed her. "That's what's killing the kids!" He lept of the table, right into the path of Miss Townley who shrieked and nearly dropped her lunch tray. Nat slapped a hand over herself, tears of mirth stinging the corners of her eyes. Eddie bowed as two cheerleaders walked past him, then returned to his seat. "That's the real monster."
"You're such a clown Eddie," Nat laughed, returning to her sandwich.
"So-uh- speaking of monsters," Dustin piped up, he and Mike hadn't eaten a thing since they sat down at the table, Mike in particular looked extremely nervous. "Um- Lucas has to do his, uh, balls-in-laundry- baskets game. So… he's not going to be able to make it to Hellfire tonight." He chuckled as he finished, eyes squinted.
Oh god. Don't even say it, thought Nat. He's gonna be so pissed. Eddie had already begun chewing the remains of his sandwich slightly more aggressively than before. Nat wanted to reach across the table and put a hand on his leather clad arm, try and convince him to relax a little, but inside she was also on the verge of annoyance.
"And I know there's no way we can beat your sadistic campaign without him. So, me and Mike, we were talking," Mike was currently silently pleading at Dustin with his eyes to just get this over with. "Shootin' the shit- and we were thinking that maybe we might…"
"Christ, get on with it Dust!" Nat sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Postpone." Mike butted in exasperated.
The table erupted.
"What?!"
"Postpone? You can't just drop this on us!"
"Over my dead body." Snarled Chris from next to Eddie. Nat reclined in her chair, dropping her head back to look at the ceiling.
"Merciful Christ." She muttered.
"Shut up!" Eddie commanded, silencing them all in an instant. Nat sat back up, leaning forward on the table, watching him as he took a deep calming breath in. "You're saying Sinclair's been taken in by the dark side?"
"Uh- Something like that-" Mike offered.
"Something like that?" The crust off Eddie's sandwich bounced off Mike's head.
"Jesus Christ," Dustin gasped.
"And rather than find a sub for him, you want… you want to postpone The Cult of Vecna?" Eddie was now glowering from Dustin to Mike, who stuttered in response.
"I-I don't want to postpone it. We don't want to postpone it." Christ thought Nat, postpone doesn't sound like a real word anymore. "It's just that, you know, most of the subs will be at the championship game."
Eddie had scraped his chair back to stand and was now looking out of the window onto the playing field. "Oh, it's the championship game?" He said, spinning to look at Mike with surprise. A surprise so genuine from Eddie that Nat, had she not known him now for nearly four years, would've thought he was genuinely interested.
"Yeah," offered Mike, who now looked confused.
"Can I level with you?" Eddie said, stepping closer to the table. "Jeff and Nat graduate this year. Gareth's got what? A year and a half?" He slapped a hand on Gareth's shoulder as he paced the edge of the table. His hand grazed Nat's shoulders as he passed her. "Me, I am army-crawling my way toward a D in Ms. O'Donall's. If I don't blow her final, hm-" He chuckled as he half-hop-danced his way into the centre aisle of the cafeteria. "I'm gonna walk that stage next month, I'm gonna look Principle Higgins dead in the eye, I'm gonna flip him the bird, I'm gonna snatch that diploma, and I'm gonna run like hell outta here." He paced the centre aisle in two quick turns, squeezing his fist together like he already had that coveted diploma in his grasp.
"Didn't you say that last year?" Gareth laughed.
"Oh he sure did-" Nat chuckled.
"And the year before that," said Jeff.
"Yeah, yeah," Eddie bristled, hurrying back to the table. "And I was full of shit. This year's different." He looked at Nat and smirked, she smiled back, a gleam in her eye. "This year is my year. I can feel it. Eighty-six baby."
Eddie circled the table again, heading directly to Dustin and Mike. "You know what that means?" He asked, earning quick shakes of the head from both of them. "It means you boys are the future of Hellfire." He crouched behind them, grasping them both by the shoulders. "I knew it the moment I saw you. You sat on that table right over there, much like our dear Nat did only a few years before, looking like… looking like two little lost sheep."
Nat smiled, it was true, Dustin, Mike and Lucas started Hawkins High not knowing where they fit in or where they belonged.
"Look at those sorry looking things," Jeff said. They'd just sat down for lunch. As usual, Eddie at the head of the table, Nat on his right next to Gareth, Chris on his right next to Jeff. Nat looked over at the three freshies standing at the head of the cafeteria, trays in hand, they looked at each other, then out to the crowd of highschoolers before them. The guy with dark black hair nudged the shorter kid with mousy brown hair and pointed at the table adjacent to Hellfire's.
"Is that kid wearing a Weird Al T-shirt?" Nat asked, bobbing her head towards the short kid with mousy brown hair.
"Huh-look at that, so he is." Eddie said, taking a bite out of his apple. "Looks like these freshies could use some Hellfire in their lives."
It took Eddie only seconds after the three boys had sat at their table to push his chair back and head over to them. Nat thought that it must be incredibly daunting, without knowing Eddie, most people assumed he was some kind of freakshow, so Nat assumed the three boys who had looked up from their lunch trays at this tall, leather clad, human who now had his hands splayed out on the table in front of them, thought the same.
After several minutes, Eddie returned to Hellfire. "Now we wait." He said, not looking at the freshies who cast several glances between themselves, then in unison, stood and made their way over to the table.
"Welcome, travellers-" Eddie said, in a faux innkeepers voice, "Dare you take a seat with the bandits that are Hellfire?"
"We do," the kid with black hair said.
"And do you my bandits of Hellfire," Eddie said, gesturing from Nat around to Chris, then Jeff and Gareth. "Do you accept them as your companions?"
"It entirely depends," Said Nat shrugging, trying to look as unimpressed as possible. "Do you promise to fight to the death?"
The three looked at each other then nodded. "To the death," they said in unison. Nat smiled broadly at them.
"That settles it then," she said. "I'm Nat, this is Gareth, Jeff and Chris. You've already met Eddie."
"I'm Mike," said the kid with dark hair.
"Dustin," said the kid in the Weird Al T-Shirt.
"Lucas," said the tall kid on their right.
They all sat, tucking in to their lunch quickly, seemingly happy to have found new companions on their first day in the abyss of Hawkins High. "Did you tell them about the campaign?" Nat asked Eddie, taking a sip of orange juice. He shook his head.
"What campaign?" Asked Lucas.
"You guys know D and D right? We meet up a few Fridays a month, Hellfire tradition, play some campaigns. Eddie is the most sadistic Dungeon Master." She smiled, pointing her fork at Eddie who rolled his eyes at her in return. The trio all began to smile at her. "You're welcome to join us, straight after school, I'll meet you at the gym if you like." The three nodded, and thus was the beginning of a new generation of Hellfire.
"You were wearing a Weird Al T-shirt," Eddie smiled, looking at Dustin. "Which I thought was brave. Mike, you were wearing whatever shit your mommy bought you from goddamn Gap." Nat snorted at that and the rest of the table chuckled. Eddie tightened his grip on their shoulders then and pulled them from the table. The pair looked shocked and Nat merely offered a small reassuring smile. She whispered to Gareth, "He's going to send them on some wild goose chase for a sub, you watch." Gareth nodded.
Eddie paced away from the table, Mike and Dustin in tow, just far away enough so they were out of ear shot.
"It's either that or a pep talk." Gareth said, he looked over at Nat. "You looked pissed when you got here, what's up?"
"I'm always pissed, Gar." She said, nudging him, "It's my main personality trait."
"Seriously, Nat." Jeff chimed in, "All good? You could've burnt a hole right through Carver's head with that stare."
"Hmm- guess I wasn't trying hard enough. That was the intended outcome." She chuckled. "It's fine guys, just the usual shit." Eddie sat back down at the table, Mike and Dustin were long gone, their untouched food still on the table. "Seriously, Eddie? You couldn't let them eat first?"
As it so happens, Eddie had sent the duo on a wild goose chase to find a sub for the evenings campaign. Nat didn't entertain trying to convince him that they could move the game to tomorrow night. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, she wasn't alone for any of her remaining lessons, so didn't need to intentionally avoid Carver. Unless any of the group were on their own, he never really posed much of a problem, he simply stuck to his macho jock routine. When the final bell sounded to signal the end of the day they all left together, heading out to the playing field. Nat dropped her bag on the floor, throwing herself down onto the grass, looking up at the sky.
"That's it guys, Spring Break!" She said, sighing. " A few weeks out of this hell hole."
"Sure it's a hell hole," Said Jeff, kicking her shoe softly with his, "But it's a hell hole with us."
"A hell hole with Hellfire," She said, "I can take that… What's the deal with food tonight, did you guys bring snacks?" Gareth, Jeff and Chris shrugged, Nat sighed at them. "Guys, come on, I sorted stuff last time! Eddie, please tell me you sorted food?" She raised her head off the grass when no answer came from Eddie who was staring over towards the woods, a curious look on his face. "Hey, Earth to Eddie?"
Eddie blinked and turned to look at her, "Uh- Snacks, sure- I'm on it." He took a step away, towards the woods. "I'll catch up with you later, last minute campaign prep." He held up a hand and started walking away.
"Well that was weird," said Chris.
"Yeah, I mean Eddie's always weird, but that was off even for him." Jeff noted.
"Did he mention he had a sale today?" Nat asked, watching Eddie's retreating back. The boys shrugged. "Well that's where he's going, doesn't he normally mention who with?" Again another shrug. "You guys are useless." She said, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder.
Nat took off at a jog in the direction Eddie went in. He had just reached the edge of the woods by the time she caught up with him.
"Eddie! Wait up-" She said, catching his arm as he turned. He looked down at her, puzzled. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course," he said, looking behind her towards where she had left the rest of the group. "What are you doing?"
"Who is it?" Nat said, taking her hand off her jacket and tilting her head towards the woods.
"Nobody important, just one of the band kids."
"Come on Eddie, you and I both know that's bullshit." She stopped, narrowing her eyes at him. "Are you selling to the Tigers? Christ Eddie, you know that they'll look for any excuse to-"
"No, Nat, Jesus." He half smiled at her, "Look, it's- it's gonna sound weird, you can't tell anyone."
"Sure, okay." Why is he acting so weird, she thought.
"It's Chrissy Cunningham." Nat gaped at him as the words left his mouth.
"What? Why would- wait, actually I don't want to know." She put a hand up. "You know she's dating Jason right, don't get making those doe eyes at her when he's around, and for Christ sake Eddie she can't tell him you've sold her drugs!"
"Of course she won't- wait, what doe eyes?" He looked aghast, but as quickly as that look came, it vanished, a smirk in its place. "Are you jealous Nat?"
She punched him in the shoulder, a little harder than she meant to. "Oh shut up you asshat. I'm making sure you don't get jumped by that douchebag Carver." She looked to the woods then back to Eddie who was still looking at her with that same smirk on his face, she felt her breath hitch.
"I'll be careful," he said, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I won't be long."
Nat pointed at him, "You forget snacks and you're dead." She shrugged off his hand and started to walk back to the playing field, flipping him the bird as she went. A low chuckle was all she heard as Eddie departed into the woods.
At six, Nat, Gareth, Jeff and Chris headed to meet Eddie in the class normally occupied by the Drama nerds. It was the perfect place for Hellfire, plenty of props, ominous mood lighting and on the far side of the school away from the shouts of the gymnasium. Eddie was sat in the Dungeon Masters chair as always, a liquid black half throne which would have suited a goblin king quite well. The table was set, seven chairs laid out around the perimeter of the table, ready for the quest. Gareth was the first to crack open a beer which had been placed at the side of the room. At 6:05 the door burst open, Nat was perched on the arm of Eddie's throne, but rose as they entered.
A young girl walked in, no more than ten years old, flanked by Mike and Dustin. She held a bright orange folder in her hand, the star spangled banner wrapped round her shoulders as a makeshift cape. They reached the edge of the table as Eddie leaned forward, the fingers of his hands pressed together in front of him.
"Absolutely not." He said, looking the child up and down.
"You asked for a sub," Dustin replied, shrugging. "We delivered."
"This is Hellfire Club. Not babysitting club."
"I'm eleven you long haired freak." The girl said, sassiness radiating from every word.
"My, my," Eddie said, amused. "The child speaks." Chris chuckled, his shoulders rocking at the noise. Eddie rose, rounding the table. "So, what's your name, child?"
"Erica Sinclair." The girl stepped to meet him and Eddie laughed low in his throat. Nat had heard a lot about Lucas' sister, mainly from Dustin. According to him she was a power to behold and truly took no shit from anyone.
"So this is Sinclair's infamous sister?"
"He's sharp," Erica retorted. Nat bit back a snort as Eddie shot her a mild glare.
"What's your class and level? Level one Dwarf?" He really was going to try to go in on her Nat thought. Laughter erupted from Hellfire.
"My name is Lady Applejack." She bit back, "And I'm a chaotic good half-elf rogue, level 14. I will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri." Eddie snuck a quick glance to Nat, then back to Erica. "And I'll smile as I watch them die a slow, agonising death. So, are we gonna do this? Or are we gonna keep chit chatting like this is your mommy's book club?" The silence that filled the room was deafening. Nat could hear her heart in her chest. Eddie rose from his stoop, smiled and held out his hand.
"Welcome to Hellfire."
The game began quickly after that, nobody wanted to delay any further. They made their way cautiously through the caverns and dark tunnels of the Dungeon Master's wicked maze. They were playing well, rolling well. Damage was being taken, but nothing they couldn't handle. Nat took a sip of her beer, feeling it bubble on her tongue. Eddie was a brilliant Dungeon Master, he took a wicked pride in how sadistic he made his campaigns. More than once Nat thought how they were playing right into his hands, thinking they were doing well, yet they were to meet a high level monster that truly challenged them at this point.
"You make your way along the dark, dank tunnel. In the deep, drums begin to thrum." Eddie beat the table with his hands. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Nat was on the edge of her seat, hands pressed into her lap, anxiety filled with excitement twisting in her chest. "Dim light fills the end of the tunnel, you emerge into a large open cavern and you see them, hooded figures lining the edge of the expanse." Nat looked about the room, everyone was waiting with baited breath, surely this was the monster they had come to face.
"The hooded cultists chant, 'Hail Lord Vecna, Hail Lord Vecna.'" Eddie looked at all of them, his eyes lingering for no more than a second. "They turn to you, remove their hoods. You recognise most of them from Makbar. But there is one you do not recognise, his skin shrivelled, desiccated and… something else."
The collective around the table leaned forward, hanging on every word as Eddie began to rise from his throne. "He is not only missing his left arm, but his left eye!"
The room erupted with noise.
"Shit, that's impossible!" Cursed Nat, slamming her hands on the table.
"No, no way! Vecna's dead!" Argued Jeff.
"He was killed by Kas!" Mike added, looking pleadingly around the table for support that he wasn't going mad.
"So it was thought my friends, so it was thought." Eddie straightened, raising his hand and slamming the figure down onto the throne. "But Vecna lives!"
Nat ran her hands through her hair, resting them atop her head. "What're we gonna do?"
"You are scared, you are tired, you are injured. Do you flee Vecna and his cultists? Or do you stand your ground and fight?" The table observed one another silently for a moment, Nat shook her head slightly. No way did we get this far to flee, she thought. "Come on," Eddie pressed.
"I say we fight," said Dustin. He looked over at Nat and smirked. "To the death."
She smiled back at him and nodded, "To the death."
Around the table voices joined in answer, fists pounded on the table. "To the death, to the death, to the death, to the death!" Nat raised her beer and clinked the can against Gareth's laughing. Eddie observed them, a low chuckle building in his throat which evolved into a booming laugh as the table continued to chant. He slumped back into his throne, throwing his head back, arms resting on the table.
"Then let it begin," he said.
In turn they each rolled the D20 to determine initiative. Nat rolled low, so was third from last to face Vecna. Initially they started well, doing damage to Vecna whilst avoiding critical damage to themselves. The atmosphere around the table was electric, surely they had this in the bag. Then the poor rolls began, and the beating of hands on the table was out of frustration rather than joy.
"Shit," Jeff cursed, a miss and he was down. Six left, depleting health, no end in sight for Vecna and the occultists. One by one, Chris, then Mike, down and down they went. Nat shook the dice frantically on her turn and released them across the table, she could barely look as they landed in front of Eddie.
"Bad miss." Groans erupted and Nat kicked herself away from the table, hands in her hair.
"Holy Christ!" She cursed, punching her hand out at nothing. Eddie laughed, standing up on his throne, he was enjoying the carnage that unfolded before him. Nat returned to her seat, legs bouncing up and down nervously. Only Gareth, Dustin and Erica remained.
One more roll and Gareth the Great was felled. Chris tapped his hands together frantically. "Time out! Time out!"
Eddie obliged and the group gathered at the far side of the room, heads bet over, arms around each others shoulders.
"Guys, I hate to say this, but we've got to flee." Gareth said dimly.
"I concur," agreed Jeff. Nat groaned and closed her eyes. Months they'd been building up to this. Months!
"Woah, didn't we all just agree, 'to the death'?" Erica questioned, looking around at them all with a look of disgust on her face.
"That wasn't literal!"
"We're not literally going to die, Gar!" Nat said.
"Nat, Vecna just decimated us, there's no way we can defeat him with two players!" Jeff argued, eyes pleading.
"You too?" Dustin turned to Jeff. "He only has fifteen hit points left, don't be pussies!"
"Pussies? Really? Cause we're not delusional?" Gareth's voice had increased by an octave, he really was stressed.
"Delusional? How about not cowards?" Gareth was just about to make a sly retort when Eddie cut across them.
"Hey!" They broke rank and turned to face him. "If I may interject, Gentleman, Nat the Nimble, Lady Applejack. Whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Gareth the Great's concern to heart. There is no shame in running." He helf out his hands passively. "Don't try to be heroes. Not today, 'kay?"
"One sec." Dustin held up a finger to Eddie and turned, at once the circle was made again, heads pressed together firmly this time. "What do you think, Mike?"
"How many hit points do you and Lady Applejack have left?" He said.
"Twelve."
"Come on, you guys can take him. Have faith!" Nat said.
"It's risky as hell," Mike said, turning to them. "But you're the ones on the battlefield. It's your decision."
"What do you say Lady Applejack?" Dustin asked.
Erica looked aghast, "You've really gotta ask?"
"Screw it," They rose as one, Dustin walking ahead of them back to the table. "Let's kill this son of a bitch."
They reached the end of the table together, none of them daring to take their seats. Instead they all stood behind Dustin and Erica, one team willing them on.
"Chances of success are twenty to one." Jeff said, those were not good odds at all. Damn it. Dustin stopped him, a hand held high. "Never tell me the odds. Give me the D20." He held his hand out to Eddie who obliged with a swift throw.
Hands were on each others shoulders, Gareth gave Nat a reassuring squeeze. She looked from Dustin who had begun to shake the die, and hopefully pray, to Eddie who was watching them all intently. With a swift movement, Dustin threw the die. It bounced, once, twice, then rolled, slowing, slowing until it came to rest at the foot of Vecna's throne. Eleven.
Eddie rose, throwing his head back, cackling. "That's a miss!"
They all cursed, bursting apart, throwing hands about, Nat kicked the nearby bench in frustration and immediately regretted it.
"It's all on you Lady Applejack." They came back together, all huddling around Erica. One last roll, one last chance.
Erica began to shake, never taking her eyes off of her clasped hands. Nat laced her fingers together. "Please, please, please God." She muttered, closing her eyes. Around her the others were saying their own prayers. The clatter of the die on the table made Nat open her eyes, she blinked as it lanced and bounced across the board towards Vecna's throne, tumbling towards victory or defeat. It landed, wobbled, Nat couldn't look, she made to turn away, then Erica yelled.
"Crit hit!" Nat spun, looking back at the table where the die had come to rest. Twenty.
"What?" Eddie threw his hands in the air in disbelief, then clasped them to his chest.
"Hell yeah!" Nat yelled, punching Gareth in the arm, he threw his arm around her and whooped at the ceiling.
"That's why we play!" Eddie exclaimed, standing on his throne, bowing low towards Lady Applejack, the saviour of Hellfire.
The celebrations lasted for what seemed like forever. Nat lapped up the fever of the moment, cheeks glowing with pride. As the moment died down, they decided to split, Dustin explaining he needed to make sure Erica got home. The group began to disband, filing out of the drama class into the night. Nat started to clear up the game, Eddie had lounged with his legs splayed over the throne.
"What a campaign," he said out loud.
"Best one yet." Nat said, stuffing the bag of unopened Doritos into her backpack. "So what's the choice for the victory drive?" She asked, slinging the bag over her shoulder.
Eddie righted himself on the throne. "Uh-Yeah about that," Nat turned to face him. "Turns out this thing with Chrissy required more than what I usually have on me, so-"
"Oh-Okay, sure, I get it."
"Tomorrow though? I think I've finally got some of the new Metallica album down." He stood and Nat adjusted the strap on her shoulder. "You know I always need your opinion on it."
"Of course, I-uh- late tomorrow though, I've picked up an extra shift at the video store. Do you want to come by and get me at say- three?" She looked away from him, towards the door and back again, he was smiling at her.
"It's a date," he said, lightly punching her shoulder.
"It is absolutely not." She countered. "Be careful Munson."
She turned on her heel, not looking back as she walked through the halls to the parking lot. Somewhere along the way, she could feel the rock land in the pit of her stomach. She pulled the Walkman from her bag, put the headphones over her ears, letting the music begin to play, continuing off from where she'd stopped earlier.
Fuck it all and fucking no regrets
Never happy ending on these dark sets
All's fair for Damage Inc. you see
Step a little closer if you please