Chapter 5
Eddie woke up a few hours later, not from a nightmare, but from and intense pain in his stomach. It felt like he hadn't eaten anything at all for a month, but just hours ago he'd eaten a huge portion of mac and cheese.
His stomach gave a hollow growl, that seemed to echo like his stomach was a dark empty cavern. Then the nausea hit.
Eddie rushed to the bathroom across the hall and barely managed to make it to the toilet bowl before spewing half digested mac and cheese and hot dog bits into the porcelain bowl.
He retched over the bowl for a few minutes until his stomach's heaving stopped producing anything.
After the contracting in his stomach subsided he fell back against the wall of the bathtub completely spent. What the hell was that all about? He'd practically survived off of this stuff for years and it had never caused him to get sick before.
He clutched his side as he sat there, his brain getting foggy and his whole body burning with a vague pain.
"Steve." he called as loudly as he could manage in his state. It came out as a croak with hardly any volume. He wasn't sure it would be loud enough, but he was fading and couldn't manage anything else. As the exhaustion started to cloud his eyes, there was movement by the door.
Suddenly a delicious smell hit Eddie's nose. His body seemed to become alert in seconds.
Steve rushed in and knelt at Eddie's side.
"Eddie!" Steve exclaimed as he frantically checked Eddie's body over for signs of blood. "What happened?" He questioned. Placing his hands on Eddie's face. "Dude, stay with me."
Eddie's eyes were hazily focused on the source of the sweet smell, Steve's neck. A sudden pain in his mouth and an ache in his stomach was all he could focus on. Steve's words fell on deaf ears.
Steve wrapped his arms around Eddie to try and lift him. "Come on dude I can't lift you up by myself." he spat out, trying desperately to get Eddie off the ground.
Presented with the closeness of the exquisite smell, Eddie's body stiffened and his mouth flew to Steve's neck, clamping on and drawing blood through the wound. Eddie lapped at it, the only thing in this world he cared about at that moment. A jolt of electricity seemed to go through him as the sweet zing of blood hit his tongue. It tasted of a beautiful summer day with the perfect breeze to keep you cool, and freshly picked apples, perfectly ripe.
Suddenly the Haze lifted and Eddie Could feel Steve frantically pushing against him, screaming out. He immediately released Steve and pushed himself back against the tub in horror.
"What the fuck?" he cried out, voice cracking and eyes wide.
"Dude, you fucking bit me." Steve said holding his hand to his neck before looking up and Eddie's face. His eyes widening at the sight before him.
Eddie had blood dripping from his mouth which was now home to two long canines. Longer than they had been before. Steve backed away, tripping over the rug and falling against the other wall, his hand still clamped to his neck and he stared at Eddie in terror.
"Dude I'm so sorry. I got sick and had to run to the bathroom and then I kinda just blacked out. I don't know what happened." Panic had struck Eddie's voice as he wiped his mouth, rambling on too quickly, Steve's blood all over his hands. Tears started in his eyes and he Realized what he'd done. His eyes flashed up to Steve then back down to his hands.
"Fuck." he breathed out at a loss for words.
After seeing His own panic mirrored on Eddie's face, Steve calmed down a bit. "Hey Eddie, it's okay man. We're gonna figure this out okay?" He said putting his hand out toward Eddie as a sort of peace offering, "It's gonna be okay."
Eddie backed away from him, eyes still panicked and wide. "Don't, I could hurt you man." Eddie croaked, as tears spilled over his cheeks. He didn't understand anything that was happening, just flashes of feeling like he was dying of thirst then finding a beautiful red oasis. That smell of crisp apples and sunshine fogging his mind.
"You're not gonna hurt me." Steve said, dropping his hand from his neck, the wound already partially closed and turning a nice shade of pink. "You're just sick. I'm gonna call the group and they can help us figure out what happened to you." Steve said, inching closer to Eddie. "It's gonna be okay," he reiterated. He reached and grabbed Eddie's elbow to help him off the floor.
"Am I a fucking vampire now?" Eddie asked, his body starting to shake.
"I don't know what this is Eddie, but we're gonna figure it out." Steve said in a determined tone.
"Your neck is healed." Eddie noted, still shaking as he glanced at Steve's neck. His urge to bite was diminished, but that scent was still very present and enticing.
Steve placed his hand back on his neck and his eyebrows knit together as he searched for the punctures that were no longer there. Just a faint pink trace of where they had been. He looked at Eddie wordlessly, and continued helping him down the stairs.
"I think I'm okay. My side doesn't really hurt anymore." Eddie said, letting go of Steve to continue down the stairs on his own.
Steve let go of him and stood confused on the stairs for a moment before following him down. Once they made it to the living room he grabbed his phone and dialed Dustin's number.
After a few rings Dustin's groggy voice answered. "Hello?"
"Hey Dustin, sorry it's so late but we need your help. Eddie is sick." Steve said quietly into the phone as Eddie took a seat on the couch and wrapped his arms around himself, staring off into nothing.
"Fuck! What happened?" Dustin replied, wide awake and scrambling around his room, he's breathing getting heavier as he hurried to dress.
"He uh…. It's probably better if you just get over here." Steve replied, unsure of how to put it in to words. He glanced at Eddie to make sure he was still on the couch and then gazed back at the phone on the wall and started nervously twisting the phone cord around his finger.
"Okay I'm gonna call the guys and hop on my bike there in a minute. Should be there in 5 to 10." Dustin said hurriedly and hung up.
Steve sighed as he hung up the phone and turned to Eddie, still seated on the couch, gently rocking himself back and forth with glazed over eyes. Steve ran his hand over his neck again, feeling nothing but smooth skin. He decided to grab a towel to clean up himself and Eddie.
After dabbing off the drying blood around his neck her rinsed the towel and wrung it out, heading back into the living room to help Eddie.
He hadn't moved, still lost in his thoughts. Steve approached him, towel slightly outstretched as he came closer. He reached out to dab at the blood on Eddie's mouth when Eddie suddenly turned and smacked away his hand.
"Stop." he growled, hugging himself tighter and looking away from Steve.
"Stop what? I'm trying to help you Eddie." Steve replied, trying to reach around to Eddie's mouth once again.
"Stop pretending that didn't just happen!" Eddie said, whirling around and grabbing the towel, tossing it onto the floor. His teeth were more normal, the fangs having receded back into his gums, just slightly sharper than Steve remembered them being before The fight with Vecna.
"Eddie! It's okay. I'm fine, and you didn't mean to do it." Steve said, trying to sooth Eddie's frustration.
"I'm a fucking monster just like Vecna! I wanted to rip out your fucking throat Steve! Still have the urge!" He practically yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.
Steve bent down slowly to pick up the towel off the floor then stayed crouched in front of Eddie on the couch. "Eddie!" He yelled, getting Eddie to look at him. "This isn't you. Something happened to you in there and now you're different. We are gonna figure this out and learn how to deal with it. Worst case scenario we work on controlling this and you stay a badass vampire thing okay?" Steve held Eddie's gaze and when Eddie didn't reply he went on. "And it may be selfish, but I'd still rather have you here like this than dead." Steve said, reaching for Eddie's hand.
When Eddie didn't pull away or flinch, Steve interwove his fingers with Eddie's and squeezed with a light pressure.
The front door opened suddenly and Steve dropped Eddie's hand quickly, turning around to see Dustin and Mike archway to the living room.
"Hey man came as soon as we could." Mike said, his breathing heavy as he glanced around the room, his eyes landing on Eddie.
"Eddie!" Dustin cried worriedly as he rushed to the couch. "What happened? Why are you both covered in blood?" Dustin asked, taking off his back pack and pulling out a first aid kit.
"We're fine. It's my blood." Steve said, trying to quell Dustin's panicked movements.
Dustin looked over his shoulder at Steve, a confused expression on his face. "Your blood? I thought Eddie was the one hurt." He queried, shaking his head in confusion.
"No, I said Eddie was sick. If he was hurt I would have called an ambulance." Steve corrected. "He bit me." He added, trying to be nonchalant.
"What?" Dustin asked, his confusion deepening on his face, before glancing at Eddie then back to Steve.
"He…bit you?" Mike chimed in. His face mirroring Dustin's bewilderment.
"Yeah, he threw up all of the dinner we had and then passed out. I found him in the bathroom and he was delirious. Then he bit me." Steve tried his best to explain.
"Steve, there's no bite marks on your neck." Mike posited as he cocked his head slightly.
"Yeah I know, they healed almost immediately." Steve stated, rubbing the spot where the bite had been.
"Are you guys sure you guys didn't just have a nightmare? Kinda just looks like Eddie had a bad nose bleed." Dustin asked, trying to make any sense of what sounded like a fever dream.
"No, I definitely bit him. I can still smell that smell." Eddie said, looking down at himself. "I wanted to keep drinking, but I stopped myself." He couldn't meet anyone's eyes. He had fucked up yet again and this time he could have killed Steve. His blood was quite literally on his hands… and face…and in his stomach, quelling the intense hunger he'd felt since leaving the hospital.
Eddie was so ashamed. He'd fallen so far and he didn't know how to even begin to fix it.
"Bats!" Mike suddenly exclaimed after pondering Eddie's words behind Steve. "He was bitten by all those bats and fucking died." He explained after everyone looked his way, not getting it. "He's a goddamn Vampire!" Mike said, his hands up in front of his face in emphasis.
"Oh fuck." Dustin breathed out. "When we checked for a pulse… he didn't have one." Dustin said, looking up at Steve. "He really did die."
Everyone turned their attention to Eddie. "That's why you were getting better so quickly." Steve noted distantly as he started piecing things together in his mind. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Eddie, lift up your shirt!" Steve said, feeling like he was on to something.
"Really you wanna do this in front of the kids? Kinky." Eddie quipped as he reached for his shirt hem.
Steve rolled his eyes and motioned for Eddie to lift it up quicker. "I need to see your stitches." Steve said impatiently.
"Uhu sure that's all this is about." Eddie chuckled, winking at Steve before pulling his shirt over his head. Steve took off the large gauze bandage with precision and sucked in a breath at what he saw. Fresh pink skin, a few stitches still stuck in the flesh where his wound had been, but nothing but a puckered pink scar underneath.
"And your neck." Steve said. Fingers adeptly peeling the second bandage away. The gouge that had been in Eddie's neck was also nothing but a scar. With that Steve sat down on the couch, dumbfounded. "You're a fucking Vampire." Was all he could say.
"Well Shit." Eddie responded, looking at all of them. This was getting complicated.