In the back of Argyle's van, Eddie was wrapped in several layers of blankets as Jonathan sped down the highway.
Dustin had opted to ride with them, leaving a note for his mother that he'd had a terrible nosebleed and went to spend the night with Mike. She'd kill him in the morning, but that hardly seemed like the most pressing issue at the moment.
"Dude…" Argyle mumbled as he stared at Eddie from the front seat. "You look crazy, man."
Eddie shivered and glared at him. "Thank you, detective."
"I'm sorry, are we all just going to ignore the fact that Eddie Munson is sitting in the back of the van when he should be six feet under the ground?" Robin asked, incredulously.
"It's a long story." Dustin shook his head. "We'll fill you in later."
"To be f-fair." Eddie said. "I don't even know why I-I'm here either."
"Are you cold or something?" Lucas asked.
Eddie closed his eyes and pulled the blankets closer, but it wasn't helping in the slightest. "I don't know. Everything is buzzing. My s-skin is freezing but I feel like I'm on fire."
They all exchanged worried glances.
"God, and I'm hungry. I'm fucking starving…" Eddie whimpered. He looked up at the group, and for just a moment, something crazed entered his eyes. The smallest flash of something not entirely human. Something animal.
"Eddie…" Dustin said, trying to get him to focus. The look quickly disappeared and Eddie snapped out of it. "Just hang on until we get to Will's house, okay? We're ten minutes away, tops."
Eddie sucked in a breath and nodded, closing his eyes tight.
Trailing close behind, Steve flew down the interstate. Eleven sat in the back seat with the other two boys, unable to peel her eyes away from the back of the van. Something felt wrong. A familiar, terrible feeling.
"Eleven." Mike worried. "Your nose."
She blinked and put a hand to it, only to find blood on her fingers. Her stomach twisted as she looked back up at the van.
Something terrible, indeed.
It took some convincing - but then again, what were they going to do with their dying(?) friend in the back of their van - to get Hopper to bring Eddie inside at 3 o'clock in the morning. The chief paced back and forth in the living room, while Joyce brewed some coffee for the both of them. She was almost just as anxious, but too tired to put up much of a fight. They both knew that when the kids said something was serious, they needed to listen.
They had situated Eddie in the storage room which thankfully had a lock on it. Dustin seemed to be very adamant they kept him locked up for whatever reason. They'd given him more blankets but he ended up yanking them off and pacing around the room instead, wringing his hands and gripping his arms. He was definitely in bad shape.
Robin and Nancy were sitting together on the sofa, talking at length about what to do, while Steve sat by himself, feeling totally unsure of how to help. Jonathan just looked spaced out, somehow still high at a time like this. After a few minutes of standing around, not sure what to do, Argyle walked over and knocked on the door.
"You okay in there, guy?" He asked. Eddie only groaned in response. Argyle looked back at the group. "He is not okay in there."
"Can somebody just explain what is going on here?" Mike asked in frustration. They were sitting in a group on the floor. They could have sat in actual chairs, but dragging them all the way over to the storage closet seemed counterintuitive.
"Okay so…" Dustin began, "Eddie is a monster and he's super kind of… not dead anymore. That's all I've got so far."
"Why do you keep saying he's a monster?" Lucas asked.
"Did you not see him?" Mike interjected. "He's got big claws, freaky eyes, keeps talking about blood - I mean it's like he's a vampire."
Dustin looked at him, eyes wide.
Mike scoffed in response. "Dustin, he is not a vampire."
"He drained a whole deer!" Dustin paused. "Allegedly."
Lucas looked at him incredulously. "He what?!"
"It's not his fault he needs it to survive!"
Mike rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Okay, Einstein, if he really is a vampire, or whatever, why didn't the deer blood make him better?"
Dustin thought for a moment. It didn't make sense. He wasn't showing any of the usual signs of vampirism (or what he remembers from the campaigns they played or any movie he's seen). "Maybe because it was animal blood, not human."
"Do you hear yourself?" Lucas cried. "Eddie is not a vampire!"
Something suddenly banged on the wall and Eddie let out a groan. The room almost shook with the impact. Dustin sat up. "Steve! We need you."
Steve shot up from the couch and walked over. "What's up? How is he?"
"Dustin thinks he's a vampire." Will said, tiredly.
Steve scoffed in shock and looked at Dustin with an incredulous grin. "A vampire? Really?"
Dustin glared at him in response. "He drinks blood, Steve."
"He - I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"He killed a deer and sucked it dry. He was covered in its blood when I found him in my living room. How do you explain that?"
Steve stared back at him. "So he's gone insane."
"No - Steve! Listen to me! He needs human blood to get better." He stands up. "I'm gonna go give it to him."
All of the boys stood up at once. "No!"
Steve held out his arms to block him from the door. "Are you crazy?"
"Steve, we have been to an evil parallel world, battled a mind flayer, killed demigorgons, discovered a telepathic girl, beat Vecna, and stopped the apocalypse multiple times. Are you really telling me that there isn't a chance that vampires are real?"
Steve opened his mouth to retort, but realized he couldn't actually dispute it. Dustin was right. The shit they've seen has been unexplainable, crazy, and mind bending. There were probably a million insane things he didn't know about out there. He groaned and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Look, you are not going in there and giving him blood."
"How else is he going to get better? Someone has to!"
"Okay, okay." Steve looked around, trying to come up with an answer. Failing to, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You stay here. I'll do it. But I'm not letting him… bite me. He can drink it from a cup or something."
He moved to the kitchen and Dustin followed, nodding to himself in approval. He could accept that. The other boys exchanged looks, clearly deciding that Dustin had finally lost his mind. Steve opened the cabinets until he found a mason jar and set it on the counter. As he started preparing, the size of it was beginning to seem... somewhat daunting. He just had to… fill it up… yeah, just… with blood. His blood. He picked up a knife and held out his arm. Several seconds went by.
"... Steve?" Dustin muttered. "You good?"
Steve sighed and dropped the knife. "I can't do this. I'm not going to slice up my arm to fill up this jar." A sentence he never thought he'd say.
"It looks like you're gonna have to let him bite you then." Dustin said finitely, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Steve glared down at the toothy little shit, who just looked up at him expectantly. He sighed in defeat and walked to the storage room door.
After a moment of hesitation, Steve gingerly knocked on the door. "Eddie? You doing okay in there?"
Silence.
"Eddie?" Steve listened for a moment. "I'm gonna come in, okay? Just... Don't kill me or anything." He chuckled nervously - joking, sure, but that didn't stop his nerves from rattling a little.
He unlatched the door and peeked inside. Sitting in the corner, Eddie had his back pressed against the wall gripping his arms. His claws were beginning to leave marks on his skin. He shivered and looked up through wet strands of hair. The gleam of his eye shined like an unnatural nocturnal animal. Steve hesitated at the sight.
"Hey buddy." He said slowly, closing the door behind him. "So we have some theories... and we're gonna try something to help you. You just have to trust me, okay?"
Eddie shuddered and closed his eyes when Steve got closer. "S-Stop. You need to go."
"I know you're... hungry." Steve held out a hand and cautiously took another step forward. "I'm just going to give you a little bit okay?"
Eddie's eyes widened a little, he shook his head. "Steve-"
Steve took a pocket knife from his belt and held it to his palm. Bracing himself, he sliced it across his skin, wincing at the pain. As if a switch had been turned, Eddie's eyes dilated and widened. He straightened, eyes fixed on Steve's palm as the blood began to drip onto the floor.
"Okay... Just... Drink up, I guess." Steve looked ill at the thought and held out his palm, looking anywhere else. Eddie opened his mouth and craned his neck upwards to get a few drops. The moment the warm, scarlet liquid hit his tongue, the hair on his arms stood up and his heart started beating out of his chest.
In one swift motion, faster than Steve could blink, Eddie grabbed his wrist and yanked it down, sinking his fangs into the spot between his thumb and pointer finger. Steve cried out in shock and the sudden pain.
"Eddie! Dude, agh stop!" He tried to yank his arm free, but Eddie dug his claws into his wrist, his strength was completely unnatural. Steve could feel the strangest sensation of blood being drained from his arm, it was nothing like he'd ever felt, and god did it hurt. "Guys! Help!"
He squirmed and kicked at Eddie but it did little to stop him. He looked ravenous. The door flung open and the group witnessed the scene unfolding with horror. Hopper aimed his gun at Eddie.
"Back up, Munson! Now!" He barked, but Eddie didn't move. "Munson!"
"Get him off of me!" Steve shouted, he was beginning to get light headed, his vision blurring. Suddenly Eleven held out her hand and, in a flash, Eddie was flung off, pinned to the wall. Steve fell back, gripping his wrist and scrambling to get himself back. Hopper lowered his gun and approached the boy.
Eddie bared his teeth and hissed at him, his eyes wild. The sight made Hopper pause for just a moment, before he smacked the butt of his gun across his temple, knocking him out cold. Eleven released him with a gasp, and Hopper reached out to catch him, just barely. He slid Eddie down with some effort, and then turned to his daughter.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded quickly, wiping her bloody nose. Hopper turned to Steve and cursed under his breath, kneeling down. "Shit, you alright, kid?" Steve was breathing heavy, but he nodded weakly. He was much paler and visibly shaky. Hopper nodded too and then flicked the side of his head. "What the hell were you thinking? Huh? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Hopper." Joyce warned. "Later."
They hoisted Steve up and into the living room. He was going to need a lot of rest and fluids, and a firm smack across the face from Nancy. While everyone worried over Steve and scrambled around the house, Eleven stayed, staring down at Eddie.
His chest was rising softly in sleep, and color was beginning to return to his skin. His claws slowly disappeared, as did the veins covering his arms, trailing up his neck. He actually looked... human again. She stood there for a moment, fear twisting her features. She recognized the familiar dread that she felt when she sensed something from the upside down, and she felt it now.
She swallowed. What else had come back with him?
