Chapter Ten: Brainstorming Phase


When the group started leaving, Eddie reached out for Clara. She glanced at him and he all but begged her to stay. She shrugged, waving Buckley and Harrington off before sitting cross legged onto the dirty wooden floor. He sat across from her, wrapping an arm around his knees. He was scared. He had never been this scared in his life before.
"Thanks for staying," he said.
"Well, no one's gonna miss me so why not," she said.
"Your parents?"
"Forget I exist."
"You know… I thought you'd hate me?"

He'll never forget the look she gave him.
"I don't hate many people, Munson. It takes too much energy. Besides, you're too crazy to hate." She breaks into a smile; one he can't help but return.

Both are too terrified to try to sleep, so Eddie jumps up at the suggestion of a game. Clara pulls out a deck of cards from her small backpack. She tosses it to him, and he begins shuffling.
"Know blackjack?" he questioned.
She shrugged, "Kinda. I haven't played since Billy died, but uh, I think I remember the gist of it." He forgot that she dated Hargrove, and he was quick to change the subject. The less he had to think about the guy, the happier he'd be.

For someone who claimed they didn't play much, Eddie learned that she was freakishly good at it. He accused her of counting the cards and she just rolled her eyes.
"Don't know how to count cards, Munson."

Again, with the last name. He paused in dealing out another hand and tilted his head at her, half his hair spilling out over his shoulder.
"You know, you can call me Eddie." He knows she doesn't mean too, but in the flashlight lit boathouse, he caught sight of a pink flush spreading across her face. "If you want," he quickly adds. "I'm not trying to, uh, well, uh, you know."

It's pathetic how this girl reduces him to this stuttering mess. For someone who is used to eloquently using his words, this is a bit out of his comfort zone.
"It's habit, Mun… Eddie." He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes. "You gonna deal or not?"

Eventually Clara's eyelids start to droop, and he notices. She's stubborn though and refuses to sleep. She shifts herself, sitting close to him. He tries not to show how much it affects him. She starts to nod off her head falling onto his shoulder. He nearly flinches at the close contact then refuses to move.

Her lips part just barely, the only sign that she's still breathing is the slight rise and fall of her chest. God, he feels like a pervert. He forced himself to look away… but then his eyes are drawn back to her.

When Clara is asleep, all the anxiety that seems to vibrate off of her disappears. It's like she's finally at peace.

Until the nightmares start.

Eddie jolts awake when Clara jerks herself away from him, eyes shooting open in absolute terror.
"Clara," he says, reaching for her arm. "It's okay. It's just a dream."

She freezes, entire body locking up and her eyes shut as she takes a shuttering breath.
"It's not a dream," she says bitterly. "It's real and I can never escape."

In that moment, Eddie realizes that Clara has it worse than him. Sure, he saw Chrissy's destroyed body and was probably a prime suspect in her case, but Clara… Clara had gone to hell and back and somehow was still sitting beside him.
"Wanna tell me about it?"
"Remember when Will and I went missing?" she asked. Her voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah, terrible couple of days. Everyone was worried."

Except Jason, Eddie wants to add. And her family. Even when a body that looked like hers was found washed up along with another kid, the Cunningham's barely blinked.
"I was taking Will home," she said, hugging her knees to her chest. "And something was chasing us… We, uh, we escaped or so we thought. Imagine a place, Eddie, where its exactly like Hawkins, but there is no light other than a dim grayness. There's cold ash drifting from the clouds and black vines that cover everything. That's hell. There is no one else there or so you think."

She whispered the last few words and Eddie barely caught them.
"There's someone there?" he questioned. The look on her face says she doesn't want to talk about it, but she does.
"There are things. Huge creatures with strange claws for a face and razor-sharp teeth. And then there is…"

Her eyes slam shut again as if she's trying not to remember.
"And there is nothing else," she finally finishes. "No water. No food. If you aren't found by the monster, you die from lack of nourishment and the intense radiation."
"But you didn't."
"No, Will wouldn't let me."
"How did the monster not find you?"

Shoulders raise and lower slowly.
"I dunno. It just didn't." He stares at her for a minute then starts chuckling.
"This is messed up, man. Fucking messed up." She looked at him like he was crazy then a tiny smiled etched itself on her lips.

Eddie laid completely on the ground, Clara leaning over him. Her brown hair fell in her eyes, and she reached up to move it behind her ear.
"You're right," she murmured. "This is truly fucked up."

He laughed again and she gave him a puzzled look.
"What's funny this time?"
"You can't curse. It sounds terrible." She glowered at him before shaking her head primly.
"I was a babysitter; cursing wasn't really allowed until recently." Eddie sat up quickly, their faces only inches apart.
"Wait, you're telling me that you babysat Henderson, and you didn't curse around him?"

That made her roll her eyes.
"I blame TV for Dustin's vast vocabulary."
"Damn, quite an education for that one."
"You don't help anything."
"Me? I barely know the kid."
"And he worships the ground you walk on." He shook his head, laying back down.

Staring at the ceiling he sighed.
"He worships Harrington." He turned his head to the side when she laid down beside him. She had a strange look on her face.
"What do you know about Dustin?"
"Like I said, I barely know the kid."
"His dad walked out when he was three. I never learned why. Anyway, a year after everything happened, Steve kinda became a big brother figure that Dustin never had… and you kinda rescued him too."

The teen beside her sighed.
"He's a smart mouth… but he ain't all that bad." Clara smiled.
"Yeah, he's kinda sweet actually. One of those that actually care." Her words started to fade, and Eddie realized she was asleep again. Maybe this time she'd stay asleep.

And he was right. He woke up to the sound of a car driving up the path. He shook Clara awake.
"Someone's coming," he whispered. "Get into the boat." She took his hand, and he yanked her up and then covered her with the tarp.
"What about you?" she asked. Her voice was muffled under the tarp.

He was about to answer, but the door swung open with a bang. Eddie spun around, seeing the rest of the gang. Henderson held out a white plastic bag.
"Delivery service!" Henderson announced.

The tarp flew off and Clara sat up. She smiled in relief at them. Harrington hurried over, helping get the tarp completely off her.
"You good?" he asked quietly. Eddie glanced over at them, eyeing how close they were.
"Yeah," Clara said, smiling at him.

Eddie yanked his gaze away when Henderson passed him the plastic bag. He dug through it, grinning when he saw a box of honeycomb.
"You got the good stuff," he commented.
"Only the best," Henderson said.

The group gathered around the boat, Eddie sitting inside of it while the others crowded around him. It irked Eddie how close Harrington and Clara sat together, but maybe it was more envy.

Despite their night, Eddie just knew that he'd never have the same relationship Harrington and Clara shared. Though, he didn't know why they seemed so close. Wasn't Harrington after the other chick… what was her name? Uh… Oh! Nancy Wheeler.

Henderson cleared his throat, drawing Eddie's attention back to him.
"So, we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always," Eddie said through a mouthful of cereal.
"All right. Bad news… We tapped in the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro… and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."
"Like a hundred-percent kind of convinced," Mayfield said from his other side.
"Damnit," Eddie heard Clara mutter. She met his eyes, looking a bit guilty. "I tried to tell them you wouldn't do it… guess it didn't work."
"And the good news?" Eddie asked quietly.

Buckley pursed her lips.
"Well, your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do and once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."
"Hunt the freak, right," he mumbled.
"Exactly."
"Shit."
"So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence," Henderson said.

The kid was always an optimist.
"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it," Henderson nodded.
"Listen, Eddie," Buckley said. "I know everything Dustin and Clara have said sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this before… I mean, they have a-a few times, and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, theirs was more smoke-related."

God, this girl rambled when she was nervous. Eddie just watched and listened with his head slightly tilted. His eyes briefly met Clara, whose shoulders lifted in a "What can you do about it" type shrug.
"But bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this."
"Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers," Harrington cut in.

Never before did Eddie feel so grateful for the jock to cut in, Buckley's rambling was enough to give any sane person a headache.
"But, uh, those went bye-bye," Harrington continued. "So, uh…"
"So, we're technically in more of the—" Buckley fumbled with her words.
"Brainstorming phase," Mayfield said.
"Brainstorming," Harrington repeated with a snap of his fingers.
"There… there's nothing to worry about," Dustin sputtered.

Eddie's disbelieving eyes met Clara's and she glanced over at Henderson.
"Nothing to worry about?" she repeated.
"Absolutely nothing," he nodded.
"You'll be a terrible poker player, Dustin. Terrible."

Leaning over, Harrington whispered something to Clara, causing the girl to giggle. Eddie felt his heard clench at the sound but didn't say anything as the sound of sirens passed them.
"Shit," Harrington said, jumping up from his seat. He rushed over to help Buckley cover Eddie with the tarp.

He heard them rush to the windows, but could only focus on the situation he was currently in. This was so dumb. He didn't kill anybody. Some demon thing possessed Chrissy and was blaming him… He'd be more shocked if it wasn't for the fact that Henderson was an awful liar and was definitely telling the truth.
"We gotta go," he heard Harrington say.

The next thing Eddie saw was Clara's head ducking under the tarp to look at him.
"I'm going with them," she told him. "But I'll be back later, okay?" He gave her a brief nod and then she was gone.

Once the group was gone and the sirens far enough away that Eddie knew they wouldn't stop where he was, he sat up, looking around the empty boathouse. It felt bigger when he was alone… and the ache in his chest only seemed to multiply when Clara wasn't there.