AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a direct sequel to "In the Void". If you've not read the first story, this one will not make sense. Always open to answering any questions you may have. Thanks for reading!
/ / /
Not for the first time, Eddie had to reflect on how very dull it was to be an adult. He had spent the past three years as a super, mega, ultra senior and all he could do was dream of the day he graduated and the freedoms it would bring. It brought about the freedom to eat ice cream for breakfast, to never again have a curfew, to do whatever the hell he wanted with his time and money and now he only wished there was someone there to take that power away from him because he hated it. However boring and repetitive school was eight hours a day, five days a week, at least it ended every Friday at three in the afternoon. Work never ended. Bills and taxes, groceries and maintenance keep-up, auto insurance, rent, and everything never ended.
How was he supposed to live the rest of his life doing this nine-to-five job without ever amounting to anything other than a mechanic?
It was the question he asked himself every Tuesday through Saturday when he hit his alarm, rolled out of bed, and donned his navy blue work uniform with his name stitched onto a white tag above his right breast pocket. Sometimes he was in overalls, sometimes he had a two-piece, but both felt like a cotton prison, especially in the summer heat which seemed especially unbearable this year. He had taken to tying his hair back underneath a backwards cap during those long hours spent crawling around inside, outside, and beneath cars in the shop garage. He had taken the job at the auto repair shop downtown and was now almost three months into it. Though it wasn't his first pick of jobs, it was at least something that adhered to his very limited set of skills and though those skills had begun with his dad teaching him how to hotwire cars, his uncle had improved on those skills by teaching him how to do his own car maintenance to save money. It was no great influx of cash but it paid enough to cover his share of the rent and leave him a little left over every month to set aside or do with however he wanted.
Eleven's friend Doctor Sam Owens had stepped in to help when he came around at the beginning of May to collect her for more training and he had managed to find a four bedroom home to rent out to Eddie, Chrissy Cunningham, Steve Harrington, and Robin Buckley. It helped get Eddie and Chrissy out of the trailer park, which was a huge bonus, as the place held some bad memories now, and it enabled them to stay more closely connected with their friends in case of emergencies, which was something they were waiting on edge about for now three months.
Following the dream he had had before graduation in which he had died, Eddie had been told by Eleven that the dream had been real and that she had watched him die in the void and brought him back. The gaping wound in his stomach that had been the cause of his death in the dream had not been real at the time, but as the weeks went by, Eddie noticed the smooth patch of skin above his navel starting to build up with scar tissue that went from milky white to pale pink, all the while stretching and growing like a wound healing in reverse.
In the void, Eleven had seen Eddie's brother, Isaac, who had told them all to prepare for what was coming next. He had said there would be something much worse this time and that they needed to be ready, but none of them knew what to make of this since Isaac was dead and unreachable and had been since Spring Break. Eddie had come to terms with the fact that his brother was gone and had been told as much when Eleven couldn't find him following the collapse of the Upside Down. But she had told him that what she saw in the void was real, so surely, Isaac had to be real?
At least, that was what Eddie had hoped for when Doctor Owens had summoned a government car to deliver a malnourished but very much alive Jim Hopper to Eddie's trailer where he and the rest of the party had gathered for a post-graduation celebratory dinner. The cover story was that Hopper had been taken hostage by Russian operatives who were investigating the closed Hawkins Lab and knew Hopper had had connections to it in the past. The mall fire had been started by the Russians and since Hopper's body was never recovered, he was assumed dead. It seemed to be a very flaky cover story, but Eddie wasn't the one calling the shots, especially when the real story seemed even more unbelievable involving a ransom note, a sketchy smuggler, eight months in a Russian labor camp, and a fight with captured demogorgons. Mrs. Byers and hers and Hopper's friend Murray Bauman who Eddie found quite interesting had also been a part of this grand operation to spring Hopper from prison and they had had to trek across Russia to get in contact with Owens who was finally able to transport them home in early May.
Eddie had never interacted with Hopper much apart from when he had been busted trying to break into his own van because he locked his keys inside but it was reassuring to have another adult in Hawkins who knew of all the workings of the Upside Down and who the party already trusted as their protector–as Isaac had been. While the party were all ecstatic about the return of their leader, Hopper's survival had sparked the hope of a possibility within Eddie.
If Hopper had survived, there was a very real chance that Isaac had too and that he existed somewhere, but it was a thin hope and one he dared not share with anyone else because he didn't want to see those looks of sympathy when he expressed his belief that his brother was alive in some form. He tried to overlook the fact that Hopper had ended up in Russia where he was provided with a daily meal, however lacking in nutrition it was, and Hopper had not been gravely injured when he had gone through that particular portal as Isaac had been. And even if Isaac had survived up to the point of being taken through the portal, if he had been taken to some other form of the Upside Down, how could he have lived off of eating nothing? Alternate dimensions weren't exactly rolling in the food industry.
So Eddie kept his hopes to himself, even after knowing that Eleven had seen Isaac in the void. He, Eleven, and Mike were the only ones who knew of Isaac and everyone else were told that a voice she did not recognize had told Eleven to prepare them for the next fight. Everything else was shared between all seventeen of them who knew of the Upside Down and even that seemed like too many people to be sharing a secret, even in a town of hundreds.
Eleven had returned to her training after Hopper's reveal and after introducing Doctor Owens and Doctor Brenner to everyone. Eddie, Steve, Murray, and Mrs. Byers had all had to restrain Hopper at the appearance of Doctor Brenner who Eddie came to realize was the man who had kidnapped Eleven as a baby and who had essentially created the monster that would become Vecna. Eddie wanted to have a go at Brenner when he found this out himself, but knew that any vengeance to be had here wasn't his for the taking. It had taken some extreme convincing on Owens's part to get Hopper to trust him enough to take Eleven back, knowing she would be under the care of Brenner as well but it was taken in good faith that the second Eleven felt uncomfortable or unsafe, she would be allowed to come home and Brenner would not stop her.
Hopper agreed to let Eleven go on the condition that she be allowed to return if there was any developing news of the Upside Down and that she call him daily or find some way to contact him since there were still military forces searching for her.
Meanwhile, everyone else was told to get on with their lives, to return to a sense of normalcy all while keeping their eyes and ears open for signs of the abnormal. Normal for Eddie meant adjusting to the life of an adult and as someone fresh out of high school, he made it his mission in life to never have children to avoid putting this sort of burden on them. He was lucky to have the roommates that he had, lucky to have three others who he could trust to keep them all afloat. And so they split the bills as evenly as possible, rotated whose turn it was to go grocery shopping, divided the chores amongst themselves, and lived as close to a normal life as possible but none of them knew that Eddie was setting aside a fair portion of every paycheck both for his savings and for Max Mayfield and her mom.
They were still living in the trailer park even though Eddie had all but begged them to move in with him before asking Steve and Robin. Mrs. Hargrove insisted upon continuing to support herself and her daughter on her own and would accept no charity, so Eddie had spoken to Owens who had agreed to adjust Mrs. Hargrove's bills to reflect the payment that she owed after Eddie's contribution had been applied. She would wonder why expenses had gone down, maybe even question it, but since Eddie's payments would be anonymous, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if she did find out someone was helping her.
He owed it to both of them for watching out for him during that first month without Isaac and for their continued support in checking in on Eddie's Uncle Wayne periodically. Not that Eddie worried about the old man, just that it had been over a decade since Wayne lived alone and Eddie had experienced firsthand what could happen to someone who was left inside their own head for too long. He made the effort to visit his uncle at least once a week if possible depending on when their schedules aligned. They would share a beer, Eddie would give a brief update on how life was going for him, and then they would part ways since neither of them were much for talking but Eddie knew his uncle appreciated his visits.
The rest of Eddie's free time was spent trying to keep his thoughts away from every dark memory which often resulted in him visiting his friends at their jobs until closing time. He wasn't one much for watching TV now that he finally owned a set and he couldn't stand being alone for too long without some form of distraction so he would hang out with Steve and Robin at the video rental store or Chrissy at the library or Dustin as he tinkered away at his latest invention after returning from another summer at his brainiac camp.
Despite how very hard he tried to ignore it, it was also a fact that the youngsters of their party would all be turning sixteen in the coming months apart from Lucas who already had at the end of June. They would be returning to school as sophomores, just a few years out from graduation, but somehow, it was easier to see them as kids from the other side of sixteen and it saddened him somewhat to see them growing more independent. Steve often joked about how for years, the party referred to the kids as his children all because of the friendship he had struck up with Dustin but Eddie would be lying if he said that he had actually seen himself in that role. He still didn't want children of his own, but those days spent with Max, Dustin, and Lucas had been fulfilling in a way he couldn't quite explain and adding Mike, Will, and Eleven to the mix had only solidified the feeling. They were his, even if he had to share them with Steve.
Which was why he was to be found Sunday afternoon making his way to the trailer park to pick up Max for her third driving session with him because Steve absolutely refused to let her anywhere near his car. She would be sixteen at the end of the month and was eager to get her license but her mom hadn't been able to afford the test to get the permit, so Eddie had promised her that he would pay for it if she could prove herself at the wheel. He wasn't absolutely thrilled about the idea of becoming the designated adult passenger to Max's permit driving self, but he convinced himself that having her learn to drive would help her out in the long run by being able to take care of her own transportation to a job that would help support her mom.
He had made the mistake of eating a hotdog right before their first lesson and had spent ten minutes after that lesson hunched over the side of the road, spilling it all back up. Since then, he had learned to either eat lunch several hours before or hold off altogether on putting anything in his stomach when Max was at the wheel.
She was confident in her abilities–maybe a little too confident–and he regretted inviting her to show him what she could do when she shot out of the trailer park at fifty miles an hour and nearly sent Eddie crashing through the windshield. It was then that he found out besides her one joyride in Steve's car, she had only driven one other time in a very large and very empty parking lot in California, so he had started her out slow, insisting that she master letting her foot off of the gas first before he let her anywhere near a road. She picked up on all of his hints and suggestions like a natural; the problem was that she was stubborn and didn't like taking his advice.
As she turned down one of the scenic roads with open woods spreading out on either side of them, Eddie made the comment that she could afford to pick up a bit of speed since she was doing about ten miles under and she took that suggestion much too literally by shooting off like a bullet.
Peeling himself off of the dashboard once again, Eddie tried to keep his voice calm as he said, "Once you're on the road cruising, you're fine, but it's those turns and coming to a stop that's got me a little worried. You gotta gently tap the brake and apply more pressure as you get closer to where you need to stop and you're still jamming on the pedal like you're gonna hit a deer every time."
"You know you're the worst person to be giving me advice on this, right?"
"Hey, I only drive like a maniac, I don't brake and turn like one so between the two of us, we would make a decent driver. And let's not forget that I haven't yet gotten a speeding ticket or any other ticket involving the operation of a motorized vehicle."
Max took them along the road at a steady pace, every so often drifting a bit far right and Eddie would gently touch the wheel as a signal for her to straighten out. They were about to turn into an empty lot that acted as a rest stop when a patch of grey in the field of greenery caught his eye.
"Pull over here," he told Max.
"Why, are you gonna puke? I'm not even doing that bad."
"No, I saw something I wanna check out. Just pull over."
She brought the van to a stop just shy of the gravel turnoff and Eddie climbed out, making his way back a few dozen yards to where he had seen the vivid contrast in colors along the roadside. He crouched down to examine what looked like a line leading right out of the woods of dead plants and grass. It was extremely uniform, as if a painter had forgotten to color in this part of the landscape. Picking at some of the dead weeds, he saw that they were covered in what looked like ash or maybe dust.
The back of his neck prickled and he felt a sudden urge to dart for cover against something that wasn't there. He backed away from the patch of dead plants as if he had been electrocuted and stepped on Max's toes.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Get back in the van," said Eddie quietly, reaching around the back of his flannel.
"Eddie, you're going for your gun, I know something's wrong–"
"Van. Now."
Max hurried back to the driver's side and shut her door. Eddie slid into the passenger seat and slammed his hand down on the lock for good measure, prompting Max to turn the van on. She was just starting to pull off the shoulder when something darted across the road and she hit the brakes hard enough that Eddie had to throw out his hands to catch himself on the dashboard or risk splitting his head open.
"Did you see that? Tell me you saw that," Max exclaimed.
"I saw it, what the hell was it?"
"It–it looked like…but it couldn't have been could it? Not here, not in broad daylight, and not now …"
"In a month or two when you've decided whether or not you'd like to share your findings, Miss Mayfield," Eddie prompted irritably.
"It was a demodog. It looked just like one, but that's not possible, right? Unless that's what Eleven has been telling us to look for."
No, Eleven hadn't told them specifically to be on the watch for demodogs or any other creatures from the Upside Down, but she had said that Isaac had told her in the void to be ready for something. If that something was a sign of the Upside Down stirring again, then that was as good of a sign as any that they needed to make final preparations for the storm that was about to hit.
"I think that's enough practice for today. Where's your walkie?"
"In my bag, but–"
Eddie reached down to where Max's bag was sitting on the floor between them but then gave a sudden outcry from a sharp, stabbing pain in his stomach. He clapped his hand over the area and dreaded to see the progression that would have had to happen for it to hurt him as badly as it did this time. Rolling up his undershirt, he saw that the dark pink scar stretching across his stomach was inflamed. If he didn't know any better, he would have said that he saw blood poisoning spreading out from the source, but how could that be possible when there was no open wound? The blackened marks were only there for a few seconds before disappearing, but the skin remained just as raw and red.
"Shit," he said under his breath.
"Jesus, Eddie, how is it still getting bigger?" asked Max, looking at the area of interest in trepidation.
"I don't know, Owens doesn't know, and Eleven doesn't know, so I don't think we're gonna find out anytime soon. Start driving to Hopper's old place while I make the call." He pulled the antenna out to full length to broadcast the distress signal on channel eleven. "This is Eddie, contacting all Spring Breakers. Does anyone copy?"
Not even two seconds later and Dustin's voice came through. "This is Dustin, reading you loud and clear. What's wrong?"
"I'm with Max and we both saw what we think could have been a demodog run across the road off of Bennings. Also, my scar is worse. I want everyone who is available to meet at the Hopper cabin asap."
"This is Hopper. I'll pick up as many as I can and we'll be there in twenty."
"This is Robin. Steve and I will grab whoever else still needs a ride."
Excluding Murray who was out of town at the moment, everyone else agreed to meet and twenty minutes later, Eddie and Max were watching them all pull up in various vehicles in front of the reconstructed but not regularly used cabin that had once been Eleven's hideout. Now, it was a place for them to store excess weapons and to meet without drawing too much attention to themselves.
Inside, Eddie and Max briefly explained what they had seen as well as what Eddie had experienced with his scar. Eddie could only draw the conclusion that an appearance by a creature from the Upside Down definitely qualified as a means to contact Eleven and possibly bring her home.
"On a scale of one to ten, how badly did the scar hurt?" asked Hopper.
"Ten being excruciating and wanting to die rather than experience the pain? I'd give it a seven, but the thing is, it's never hurt before. I shouldn't even have a scar because I wasn't stabbed. But it didn't feel like–like mortal pain, if that makes sense. It felt like I was experiencing it outside of my body but that it also was something no human has ever experienced before."
"You're not being possessed, are you? I mean, there's no chance of Vecna having a hold on you, is there?" asked Steve with concern.
"There can't be, unless there's a gate open that we don't know about," said Lucas.
"If there's a demodog running around Hawkins then there's definitely a gate open," reasoned Nancy.
"But we killed Vecna. Whatever may be in control of the Upside Down now, it's not him," said Robin.
"The Upside Down doesn't exist anymore, or at least, it shouldn't. Am I the only one who remembers the sky literally breaking into pieces as we were escaping?" asked Steve.
"And Eleven said that Vecna manifested everything, that he was at the top of the hierarchy, that he created the Mind Flayer, and so everything has to answer to him or is connected to him, so if he's gone, everything from that world should be gone too," said Chrissy with a nervous glance at Eddie. "So how can a demodog even exist if Vecna is dead and the Upside Down fell apart? How can anything be possessing Eddie? He would know, wouldn't he? I would know."
Credit to his girlfriend for being so in tune with him that she prided herself in being able to pick up on the slightest change in his mannerisms, but Eddie knew that this scar was not something either of them could comprehend.
"The thing is, Eddie may not know if Vecna's been inside his head," said Will, and if Eddie trusted anyone's judgment on this, he trusted Will's. Will had gone through the worst sort of transformation while under the influence of the Mind Flayer (and ultimately Vecna) and knew what it was like to not realize something evil was festering within him. "Do you remember blacking out at all or not being able to recall where you've been? Have you been having visions of being back in the Upside Down where one second you're here in Hawkins and the next, you're alone?"
"Naw, man, I remember everything. I haven't had anything beyond the occasional nightmare and then, it's just flashbacks, nothing new. I haven't had anything weird happen to me since that night Eleven says I died. Besides that, I'm great."
"Nothing at all?" Will prompted. "Even if it was just a feeling like something bad was going to happen?"
With a sinking heart, Eddie recalled the prickle along his nape as he had examined the dead plants along the roadside. He ran his hand across the skin on the back of his neck and locked eyes with Will. "There was a feeling…"
"Okay, so Eddie had a bad feeling, big deal," said Lucas. "It's called instinct; it doesn't mean that Vecna is back."
"If it were any other town, I'd say you were right, but bad feelings aren't just bad feelings in Hawkins," said Hopper sagely. "And since you all agree that Vecna had it out for Eddie from the beginning, I think for Eddie to be having any sort of bad feeling just seconds before he saw a demodog and before that scar of his hurt like hell, I'd say we're closing in on whatever it was El told us to be ready for."
That was the thing about Hopper; he wasn't one to sit out the fun part. He respected that Eddie was an adult and not in a patronizing sense. Everyone in the room, all the members of the party had proven their bravery and though Hopper would still displace the younger ones from danger if possible, he acknowledged that they had more courage than most of the people in Hawkins when it came to battling the supernatural.
"I'll call Owens, tell him to have El take a look and see if there's a gate open somewhere for starters. He said he'd bring her home if that happened and he'd bring help."
"Like military help?" asked Mike eagerly.
"Yeah, soldiers, tanks, everything that we can get short of the entire country's military support, but that's not a good thing if he thinks we'll actually need it this time. In the past, we got away with brute force, bullets, some fireworks, and El, but if Owens thinks we'll be needing everything he can supply us with, we need to be ready."
"I'd say we should make another trip to the War Zone, just for fun," said Eddie, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. Leave it to the metalhead to find something positive in all this mess of doom in being excited at the prospect of stocking up on weapons.
"Haven't we nearly cleaned them out already?" asked Robin. "I'm sure you and Chrissy have over half of the store stockpiled under your bed."
"First off, we have two separate rooms and two separate beds, neither of which we use to hide weapons because that would be obvious. Second, we're not even close to cleaning them out but I don't think there's any harm in being over-prepared. I mean, if gasoline and bullets didn't do it the first time, we'll need something a bit more heavy duty this time."
"And you think they're just going to let you browse their grenade supply and let you have your pick of the litter?" said Mike skeptically.
"They will if they think I'm twenty-one."
"But you aren't."
"They don't know that." Eddie flashed them his fake license. He expected to hear some reprimanding remarks from Mrs. Byers at the very least but after the forbidden things she had done to bust Hopper out of Russian prison, she seemed to have softened to the idea of breaking the rules for serving a greater cause.
Nancy sighed with her hands on her hips. "When did you get that?"
"I have connections."
"Illegal connections."
"And since when have any of you ever cared about what's legal? Whether or not Hopper can take the day off to be the acting adult in this situation, I don't know but if he can't, I'm the next best option. You don't have to come with me, but I'm going tomorrow."
"And how are we all gonna get there this time?" asked Lucas in resignation.
"I could drive my van–"
"No, please, never again. Not in that hunk of scrap metal, not with you at the wheel. Never–again," said Steve.
"Mom, we could just take your car," Will suggested.
"I have to work tomorrow and I cannot take another day off, especially to ditch and go pick up shotguns and whatever else he's thinking of buying," said Mrs. Byers.
"Anyone else wanna bail?"
"I can see if Keith will let Steve and me both off tomorrow, maybe get Justin to cover," said Robin.
"Then it looks like we're about to take a trip down memory lane with the old crew," said Eddie, smiling despite himself.
"I swear to God, you go over one speed bump at more than two miles an hour or forget to put your turn signal on just one time, I'm tying you up in the back until we get there," Steve promised.
"Don't threaten me with a good time."
"If you're not gonna take this seriously–"
Eddie ripped up his flannel and undershirt to show them all the growing, cancerous mark on his stomach. "Tell me again I'm not being serious, Harrington. This is happening to me and I don't know what it is but I just saw something from the place that shouldn't exist anymore and I've got a very bad feeling in my gut that some major shit is about to go down and I'll be smack dab in the middle of it, so forgive me if I'm choosing to try and distract myself in the only way I know how."
No one had anything to say after getting an up close and personal look at the inexplicable scarring across Eddie's abdomen. He hadn't meant to get them all to shut up with his revelation but it still had the desired effect of making sure none of them argued with him anymore about the subject.
"Then I will see all takers for the roadtrip at my place tomorrow morning at nine."
"Everyone stay on the walkies and make sure you have several sets of backup batteries on hand," Hopper advised. "I'd also suggest having a contingency plan in place in case we need to evacuate. Have emergency packs ready to go and pack them for your families if you need to. I'll make sure Chief Powell puts out a message to the town as a casual reminder but if Owens comes through for us, people will more likely be getting out of Hawkins rather than hunkering down for whatever is to come. Be ready and try not to go anywhere alone or unarmed. That means guns for those overage and knives for those underage."
"One of these days, you'll all just have to trust us with guns," Dustin complained.
Eddie ruffled Dustin's hair patronizingly. "Today is not that day, my friend."
/ /
The following morning, Eddie was making space for his passengers in the back of his van since he had an accumulation of spare car parts, pizza boxes, and a few blankets piled up from those nights where he and Chrissy needed an escape from their roommates. At five to nine, Nancy pulled up with Dustin, Mike, and Will in tow while Steve returned home with Max, Lucas and Lucas's little sister Erica who, on top of being a worthy adversary and ally in D&D, also knew a thing or two about the Upside Down. Including Chrissy and Robin, that made for eleven of them piling into the van which had seated more than that before, even if uncomfortably.
With Eddie at the wheel and Steve in the passenger seat, they set off for the War Zone which was a two hour drive away. Eddie entertained them all by playing various selections of Black Sabbath, Dio, Metallica, and Iron Maiden but his music overstayed its welcome and Erica threatened to have him arrested for child endangerment and the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment upon a minor if he didn't put on something else. So Eddie conceded and let everyone else choose songs and stations, the last of which was one of Chrissy's favorites, Higher Love by Steve Winwood.
As they pulled into the jam-packed parking lot, Eddie felt a dormant swoop in his chest of excitement that he was getting the opportunity to purchase some heavy duty firepower. There was so little that truly entertained him these days that he was positively quivering in anticipation of all the goodies he was about to walk in on.
Turning around in his seat once he had parked the van, Eddie asked, "How much did he give us?" in reference to the wad of bills gifted to them by Hopper for the occasion.
"Nine hundred bucks," said Robin in awe.
"That's what I'm talking about!"
"I'll be handling the money," said Nancy, swiping the roll before Eddie could get his hands on it. "We're not going in there just to buy the biggest thing that goes boom. You need to pace yourself."
"Well, it's my first time going in since I was a kid since you all thought I couldn't be trusted to handle things last time."
"Last time you had been back with us mentally for two days."
"Well, I'm the one with the license and I'm the one who knows the most about their wares, so it's my judgment we'll be trusting this time. File out, soldiers."
Christmas had come early this year as Eddie walked in to see the shelves upon shelves of lethal hunting knives, grenades and other explosives, animal traps, hatchets, pickaxes, and machetes and an endless supply of artillery. He broke straight for the shopping carts and set off on a mission.
"You know, it's actually kind of scaring me how eager you are to be in charge of some of these things. I thought you were the docile one in your family," said Robin in observation of the giant grin Eddie couldn't keep off of his face at the sight of all the weapons just waiting to be handled.
"I was the first one to point out that I had a gun when we were making plans to kill Vecna, if you recall. I just prefer the diplomatic solution first but there's no reasoning with anything from the Upside Down, so I can be as excited as I want to get my hands on some of these babies."
"Better not let your baby hear you saying that." Robin nodded back at Chrissy who was packing a cart with kerosine.
"Chrissy knows weapons are my third love after her and my guitar," said Eddie distractedly. "I know what I'm looking for so you go tell the others that they can get one small item for themselves. Then grab whatever you may have missed the last three times you were here and meet me at checkout."
"Behave yourself."
"I intend to. I don't wanna get kicked out of here before having some fun."
And have fun, he did. The majority of their budget went into procuring a respectable supply of explosives, some gas grenades, two shotguns, and a bunch of other goodies that Eddie was keen to test out but respected that he hoped he would never have to. This was not a joyous occasion for which they were preparing. He had a moment or two of nervousness that the cashier would spot an inconsistency with his fake license, but no remark was made and he and the others returned to the van with their purchases in tow.
That night after Eddie had rinsed off under a cold shower, he double checked his closet for his weapons supply and added his new toys to the collection, mentally checking off everything and ensuring that his firearms were loaded, his blades polished, and his emergency pack ready to go. Hopper had assured them all that food was not an essential item to pack since they wouldn't be heading into the Upside Down or anywhere else that didn't have a convenience store or diner that couldn't be broken into. They were bringing water bottles, but everything else largely consisted of the same sort of supplies Eddie and the party had gathered the last time they were preparing for battle: rope, matches and a lighter, flashlights, extra radio batteries, a hammer, a screwdriver, duct tape, and the like.
Ensuring that he was as prepared as he could be, Eddie closed the closet door and stood before it, as it offered a built-in full-length mirror. He lifted his nightshirt to stare at the ugly mark on his stomach, remembering what it had felt like to die. Nothing about any of this made sense to him and the confounding nature was more than frustrating; it was infuriating. If what Eleven had seen in the void was real then he had actually died, but how could he have died in such a manner if he was here now? Even if he had somehow died in his sleep and it was there that Eleven found him and sent him back, it would make no sense for him to have met his end by a means which never happened. He hadn't saved his brother from the vines or the portal. The exact opposite had happened.
But this blossoming scar on his stomach wasn't a coincidence. It was growing to be an exact replica of the mortal wound that had brought about Eddie's death in the void, so what would it mean when it finally stopped growing and actually opened up to spill out his guts?
Chrissy knocked and let herself into his room. She came around behind him, joined her hands across his stomach, and traced his scar with her fingertip.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Only right after I saw the demodog. It hurt like I remember it hurting in my dream–if that was a dream. I don't know what to make of it anymore. If I died, how I died, how I came back, how this came back with me. I don't know but when this all finally comes to a head, I have a feeling that this scar is gonna burst open and kill me."
"It won't. We're near a hospital and we'll get you there in time if anything happens."
"You say that like it's an easy thing to do, but it's not. We don't know where we'll be when anything happens."
"You're not going to worry about it," said Chrissy firmly. "We have a plan and all of us know that you would be the priority if that scar opens up. We'll take care of you, Eddie, just like we always have." She leaned up and kissed him at the spot where his neck joined his shoulder. "Come to bed."
"I'm gonna sit outside for a bit, cool down."
"You just took a shower and it's raining."
"I like the rain. I'll be in in a little while."
Lately, Chrissy had been sleeping alone in her own room since Eddie had developed a habit of twisting about at night to try and get comfortable and had nearly decked her on more than one occasion, so he thought it would be best for her safety if she didn't sleep in close proximity to him so that they both could avoid sending her to work looking like she was the victim of domestic assault. The fact that she wanted to suck it up and sleep with him tonight told him that she was just as worried as he was about what he had seen and felt yesterday.
Under the covered porch outside, he watched the street lamp at the end of the cul-de-sac shining as a hazy beacon through the heavy rain. There was a pack of Camels sitting on the porch table that had remained unopened for several weeks since Eddie had quit smoking immediately following Isaac's death but wanted to keep cigarettes on hand just in case. And his uncle had continued to supply him with more in an attempt to stay connected to Eddie on some level. He ripped open the pack, tapped out one cigarette, and stuck it between his teeth. The lighter was ignited in his hand and he had raised it to the tip of the slug when he felt the strongest urge to pitch the lighter as far as he could away from himself.
The street lamp flickered, burning bright and then disappearing in Eddie's eyes. Spotty electricity was not an uncommon occurrence in this part of town, but Eddie had stopped trusting flickering lights after Vecna's first attempt on Chrissy in his trailer. He wrapped his fingers around the Colt M19 handgrip tucked into his boxers waistline. Life after the Upside Down had left him in a permanent state of being on edge but now that he knew there was a demodog hiding out less than ten miles from his house, he had every reason to think that he might need to use his gun tonight.
With one final guttering flash, the lamp went out and Eddie felt another prickle going down his spine. He drew his gun, keeping his finger off the trigger as Isaac had always taught him, but stepping down off of the porch and into the rain. His eyes were rapidly adjusting to the darkness, searching about for anything that looked like it didn't belong. Within seconds he was soaked but aside from making him shiver, he felt invigorated, almost recklessly eager and welcoming of a fight which told him straight away that there was something dangerously wrong.
He never wanted to fight. He hated the thought of it, hated being at odds with anyone. He could enjoy shooting things and blowing things up just like any other twenty year old, but it was always in the knowledge that he wasn't causing harm to anyone. Not like this rush of adrenaline right now that was egging him on.
Go back inside, he told himself. Leave it and go back inside now.
But just then, he saw something moving in the trees between the two houses across the street. He narrowed his vision until his eyes were almost closed and could just pick out a sleek, slender body crouching low in the underbrush. Its head was turned toward him, but there were no eyes. What looked like a flap in its mouth rippled as if it were deciding whether or not to rush him.
Eddie set his sights along his pistol, taking aim. A flash of lightning and the creature was gone, leaving him to wonder if it had been there at all.
But it had been. It had been real, just as real as whatever was now manifesting inside of him. And there would be more to come.
"I know you're out there," Eddie told the darkness. "I know this isn't over."
Placing his weapon on safety, he turned on his heel and went back inside. Without bothering to dry off, he climbed into bed where Chrissy was already asleep and lay down beside her, staring out the skylight window above and waiting, for what, he couldn't say.
/ / /
Well, that goal to stay away from a sequel lasted a total of two days. Again, not sure the pacing on this one since I'm having to invent everything on the fly but let's see where this goes.