March 24th, 1986 - 01:34 am

Lorraine didn't know how they got back into the boat, or how long it took for Eddie to take them to the other side of the lake. Lorraine didn't even know if Jason was still after them, all she could see in front of her was the body of a poor boy, who was scared and alone, dying in the most excruciating way possible. She gripped her hands tightly against the damp wood, looking into the water, like she wanted to abandon ship at any point.

Once the boat reached the shore, Lorraine immediately hopped out. She could hear Eddie calling out for her, as she dizzyingly walked through the thick forest trying to escape the lake behind her. She was trying to catch her breath, like she had run a mile, as she leaned against a tree. Her stomach was twirling, feeling the fear settle in her gut.

Eddie saw her leaning against the tree, her back to him, soaking wet. He brushed his hair back, trying to quickly hop over the tree roots and branches to reach her. As he did, placing a hand on her shoulder, she immediately crippled over and started to vomit beside the tree. Eddie pushed the hair away from her face as she continued, gagging harshly. He rubbed her back with his hand, pursing his lips in defeat. It broke his heart to think she had to see it, it took a toll on him seeing it once, twice is more than enough. But knowing Lorraine, she felt it deeply, she probably could only imagine how it felt.

It seemed she had finished throwing up the contents of her stomach, still leaning forwards as she rested her head on the tree bark. She spat a couple of times, trying to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth. She sighed loudly, finally standing upright, her breaths now getting shorter and fast paced.

Eddie didn't know how he could console her, it was something unnatural that she had just witnessed. He remembered the other night, seeing Chrissy on his ceiling, the sheer panic and fear completely taking over him as he screamed. He sighed once more, continuing to rub her back trying to calm her down. Eddie took her by the elbow, not once taking his hand off her back, as he led them to a boulder nearby. He gently set her on the floor of the woods, making sure that the spot was clear of any cold breezes, as they were both drenched. Eddie felt the chill in his bones, clenching his jaw as he tried to avoid shivering in front of Lorraine.

Lost in his thoughts, the sound of Lorraine weeping brought him back to reality. He crouched near her, taking her face in her hands, trying to sooth her as he cooed. His lip started to tremble, as she began to shake in fear and the cold. He pulled her soaking wet hair out of her face, her brows pulling into themselves, as her eyes closed shut. Although no noise came from her mouth, she continued to cry, as she fell into Eddie's chest. He leaned his back on the rock, sliding down to sit next to her, still holding her close to him.

"Sh.." he cooed, sniffling, wiping a tear that started to gather at the corner of his eye. Lorraine said nothing, as she continued to tremble in his arms. She grabbed his leather jacket, gripping it tightly as she could feel the pain in her chest grow in size.

Eddie banged his head against the rock behind him, frustrated. He wanted to calm her down, he truly did, and couldn't think of anything. He kicked his foot against the leaves and rocks near him, growing angry with himself.

A memory came to mind, a similar situation he had been in with Lorraine. It was the first night after her mother passed, she crawled into his room from the window and hid under the covers. He hugged her tightly, and began to sing a song that he knew she loved, one that her mother listened to.

"If I could save time in a bottle," his voice croaked slightly, the chill getting into his throat.

"The first thing that I'd like to do" He sang lightly, his voice recuperating at the end of the line. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to warm her as best as he could. She was still trembling, her hands grabbing at his soaked shirt. "Is to save every day till eternity passes away,"

"Just to spend them with you…" He trailed on, his voice hovering over a whisper as his throat made raspy echoes throughout the forest. Finally, he could feel Lorraine stop quivering in his arms, pressing his lips to her head as he gave her a kiss.

"If I could make days last forever," He sang into her hair, taking one hand and brushing it, pulling away loose twigs and leaves and discarding them.

"If words could make wishes come true". His hand lightly caressed her cheek, watching her tear soaked eyelashes flutter as if she tried to stay away.

He took a deep sigh, feeling how Lorraine no longer was crying, completely still as she breathed slowly into his chest. Eddie could feel her warm breath, hoping that somehow they wouldn't catch pneumonia as they sat there.

"I'd save every day like a treasure, and then" He trailed off, his voice now almost at a hum. Letting his lips graze her forehead and damp hair, he slowly pulled away and leaned his head on hers. He rubbed her arms, and her side, trying to keep the warmth between them.

His head tilted backwards, dozing off, his eyes closing as he whispered "Again, I would spend them with you…"

March 24th, 12:04

Lorraine's eyes fluttered open, her sight almost blurred by the midday sun that crept between the forest line and onto them. She lifted her head, still groggy, not sure exactly where she was, looking around. Her head turned to Eddie, his arms wrapped around her as he silently slept against the rock. She took her hand and wiped the drool that fell from her mouth, feeling how disgusting her hands and skin were from the murky lake water from last night.

Thinking about it, she suddenly remembered everything that had happened. It wasn't a nightmare, it wasn't something she had made up in her mind. It actually happened, almost like she could hear the cracks of bones snapping in the distance. Eddie's sudden snore tore her away from her thoughts, thankfully, as she lightly nudged him away.

"Eddie.." she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Eddie, wake up."

He jolted awake, his eyes widening as he gripped her tighter and looked around, like he had to run at any second. Lorraine took her hand to his arm, squeezing it, trying to calm him down.

"We're alone. It's okay." She whispered. With the reassurance, Eddie gave out a sigh of relief and laid gently against the rock behind him. He only opened his eyes slightly to look at her, the sun burning his retinas.

"Are you okay?" He mumbled, still half asleep.

Lorraine gulped, trying to think if she was actually okay, given the situation. She nodded, giving a soft smile. She slowly unwrapped herself from Eddie's embrace as she stood up, brushing the dirty strands of hair behind her ears and trying to shake off the dirt that clung to her clothes.

Eddie followed her, both feeling like a hot shower would do them good. They started to wander in the forest, completely in silence. It was like their voices were taken along with the poor boy; nothing needed to be said, nothing could be done. Now, their main objective was to get out of there, talk to the others, see what the hell is going on.

Without knowing, they had reached Skull Rock, only after a few minutes of walking. When Lorraine reached the area, she stood still, taking a deep breath. She felt Eddie reach her, turning to give him a smile of acceptance. He chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing before letting go and continuing to walk forwards, towards the giant boulder.

She sat under the small cave-like opening that the rock provided, littered with plastic bottles and beer cans. Lorraine sighed, putting her face into her hands.

"We need to find them." She mumbled into her hands, hearing how Eddie paced around, the leaves crunching under his feet.

"The walkie, it's not fucking working." He mumbled angrily, kicking the forest floor with force as he pressed down on the button. "Fucking idiot." He grumbled, chucking the walkie to one side.

"I'll go find one." Lorraine said, pulling her hands from her face looking up at Eddie.

"No." He said sternly, pointing his finger at her as he continued to pace around. His lips were strung in a straight line, not looking at her as he shook his head. "You stay right there."

"What?" She said, fiercely, with a contorted face. "I'm just supposed to wait here and do nothing?"

He stepped closer to her, crouching down and leaning his hands on his knees. His eyes pierced hers, it wasn't a look of love or kindness, it was almost like a curtain of red had covered his gaze.

"If they find you, they'll…" He trailed off, taking his hands and rubbing his face before brushing his hair back slightly. "You stay here."

Lorraine said nothing as Eddie stood up once more, turning on his heel and clumsily walked down the hill of Skull Rock, disappearing into the woods. She felt like she was in shock by how he was acting, he's the one that was in danger, and it was best if she had gone. Why was he acting like she was the runaway? Why was he so angry at the thought of her scouring the forest? She leaned her head against the rock behind her, closing her eyes and sighing. Her arms leaned against her knees, she tried to breathe deeply and calm herself down.

Her eyes widened suddenly when she heard Eddie's voice talking over a walkie-talkie. She shook her head quickly, not realizing that she had fallen asleep once more, it felt like she had just closed her eyes moments before. Eddie was crouched on the wall in front of her, desperately talking over the walkie.

"Eddie, holy shit. Are you okay?" The buzz of the walkie echoed around them. Eddie clenched his fist and tightened his lips, showing off his teeth, frustrated.

"Nah man." He said, trying to hold back his anger, shaking his head as he rubbed his eye. "Pretty.. Pretty goddamn far from okay." He laughed nervously, as he looked up to Lorraine and stared at her, waiting for their response.

"Where are you?" Dustin's voice came through once more.

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?"

"Yeah that's near Cornwallis and-" Dustin said, with a faint voice behind him that sounded like Steve, before it cut off.

"Hold tight. We're coming." Dustin said calmly, before his voice became somewhat more frantic. "We're coming."

Eddie began to nod nervously, shutting his eyes tight as he felt relief knowing that the group was coming back for them. He dropped the walkie between his feet and let his head fall back slightly, before cupping his face with his hands and rubbing his eyes.

Lorraine stayed quiet, not really sure how she could help the situation. She was also relieved that the others would be coming soon, or as soon as they could. She needed some answers, some reassurance of what the hell was happening and how they could get out of this mess. They were both exhausted, mentally, physically and quite honestly, emotionally.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled in his hands, as Lorraine simply raised a hand even though Eddie wasn't looking. She understood how he was feeling, the roller coaster ride of emotions was too much. For both of them.

Eddie heard voices in the distance as he stood up suddenly, looking over to Lorraine. He gestured his head to the other side of the rock, where the voices weren't coming from. They both scrambled to hide behind it, expecting to find an angry mob coming after them. Eddie walked along the rock, trying to find a spot where he could easily see whoever was coming without them finding out they were there. Lorraine stood still, biting her lip and closing her eyes, afraid of what she might see.

"Oh, boom!" Someone shouted, "Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson."

It was Steve, Lorraine felt she could faint as she felt so relieved to hear someone's voice that wasn't that of Jason or someone else who wanted to gut them. She turned to look at Eddie, but he wasn't there, having disappeared into the forest. She pursed her lips, threading her brows close together.

Creeping to the opening of the cave, she tried to see if she could see the others, still not sure if she should come out of hiding.

"Skull Rock!" Steve said, loudly.

"Doesn't make sense.." Dustin huffed, an amazed look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah." Steve scoffed, "Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. Can't admit you're wrong, you butthead."

She slowly got closer as she saw Eddie suddenly jump behind Dustin, giving a huff as he placed his hands on his hips. Dustin and Steve both jumped, not expecting the sudden entrance.

"I concur," He said, almost smiling. "You, Dustin Henderson, are a… total butthead" he sighed.

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner." Dustin's face grew into a large smile, getting closer to Eddie as he sighed, relieved.

Eddie seemed surprised as Dustin pulled him into a hug, patting his hand against his hand as he did so. "Yeah," he said softly. "Me too, man."

His eyes drifted to the opening of the small cave, seeing Lorraine's face pop out of the darkness.

"Me too." His eyes could only look at Lorraine, his heart dropping thinking that if anything were to happen to her, he would regret it for the rest of his life.