As promised, here's the next chapter to end Episode 1! Enjoy!
"Sorry about the mess," the brunette said to the strawberry blonde as he went to the fridge. "Our maid took the week off." He opened the fridge door and took out the ceramic-wrapped plate of food. She kept her grin, standing in what looked like the living room, and looked around. It was a bit cluttered, but not enough for it to be messy, having a homey feeling to it. There were even hung-up baseball caps on the wall.
"So, um...you and Billy live here together?" she asked.
"Along with my uncle. He's not here 'cause he works nights at the plant." She nodded as he unwrapped the food and slid it into the open microwave. "Bringin' home the big bucks." She was curious how Billy ended up with him and his uncle...but she knew that was too personal. This was just a drug deal, right? They weren't going to be friends...the thought of that saddened her, surprisingly.
Wanting to take her mind off of that, she also asked, "W-when does it kick in?"
"What?" he asked back after he closed the microwave and set the timer.
"The, um, Special K." She looked down and pulled her sleeve over her fingers one more time.
"Oh." He pressed the start button on the microwave, reheating the dish. He shrugged, crossing his arms. "That depends on whether you snort it or not."
"So...when you snort it?"
He glanced at her with a smile. "It'll come real quick." She nodded once more, leaving the two in a bit of silence. Only the hum of the microwave was heard for a moment.
Wanting to break this awkward silence, Eddie asked, "You nervous?"
She looked up from her sleeve. "Huh?"
He shrugged, looking at her once again. "You nervous about the K?" He was so considerate...
"A...a little," she admitted.
His expression was reassuring. "Don't worry. It'll be a bit awkward at first, since it's your first time, but once it gets in your system-" He snapped his fingers and flicked his hand, mimicking a swishing sound. "-never happened." She nodded and smiled, feeling a bit more comfortable...just like earlier in the woods. Eddie just seemed to make her feel like that...
Unlike Jason.
The microwave dinged, a cue for Eddie to open it and grab the plate.
He opened the door and handed the plate to Billy, the two exchanging nods before he went back up and inside the mobile home.
Billy set the plate on his lap, careful not to have it tangled with the wires of his headphones. At least the path from here to Skippy won't propose a challenge. He carefully wheeled himself towards the barking dog, murmuring, "I'm comin', I'm comin'..."
Eddie threw away the garbage on a table and began looking for the drug. Chrissy nervously fidgeted, her hands swallowed by her sleeves again. She looked around some more. She didn't like how quiet it was...what if she heard those chimes again? Those creepy, bone-chilling chimes? If she got a vision like the one she had in the bathroom...
"Gotcha," the long-haired guy whispered to himself as he got a small container out of the cabinet. He stood up and opened it...seeing nothing. Disappointed, he muttered, "Damn it."
"Hey, uh, Eddie?" Chrissy asked, getting his attention once again. "Do you have a radio, by any chance?"
He smiled and answered, "'Course I do. You want music?" She nodded once again. He gestured her to follow him after he put the container back. "Then follow me, my lady." He had put on an over-the-top gentleman voice to say that, making her laugh and forget her anxiety for a moment. How can one guy make her laugh so much today? She followed him to what seemed like his room?
Billy finally got to the dog, taking a piece of chicken from his meal and feeding it to him. He smiled when he chewed it, saying, "Good boy, Skip." He fed him another piece. "That's a good boy..." He made this a habit after he moved in with the Munsons, since he's never had a dog, never mind a pet. That piece of shit insisted that it'd make him 'distracted from what's really important'.
Whatever, these guys weren't called a "man's best friend" for nothing.
He looked over at the mobile home this little guy's family was in, seeing that the lights were still on. He looked down at his dish of chicken and rice, then back up at the home. Maybe he could offer them the rest of them this dinner? They were the poorest of the entire park-
The dog banged against the fence, barking for more and breaking him out of his thoughts. He smirked and shook his head, plucking another piece of chicken from his plate. "Okay, just one more, Skip, and that's it." He fed him that, setting the plate on his thighs again. He pointed at him, stern. "No more, 'kay?" The dog just wagged his tail, the blonde smiling again before wheeling himself towards the McHollis's.
No, it wasn't just his room. There was another mattress perpendicular to another at a corner. Once they got in, Eddie's eyes glued to the guitar hanging from the mirror. His expression was warm as he approached it, saying softly, "Sorry I'm late, sweetheart." He gently grabbed the body, placed a kiss on his fingertips, and brushed the strings with them, creating a harmonic sound. "You're gorgeous."
Chrissy was a bit weirded out by that, but it wasn't in a bad way. "That's your guitar?" she asked.
He nodded with a kept smile, going to the radio he mentioned on the drawer. "My lovely little Battleaxe," he answered. "Best birthday gift ever." She smiled back, glad he had something precious to him from his birthday.
She wrung her fingers while looking around once more. This room was filled with rock and metal posters, of bands and their concerts. It was also messier than the rest of the trailer. "This is your room?"
"And Billy's, 'case the other mattress didn't give it away."
She grinned. "You guys really like that rock stuff, huh?"
He chuckled, turning on the radio. "Oh, we don't just really like it, Cunningham." The radio blared rock, making her jolt in surprise, as he glanced at her with a smile. "We can't live without it."
She smiled back at him, a bit more curious now. "Really?"
"Yup." He faced the radio, nodding along to the Bon Jovi song playing. "Rock and metal all the way, no exceptions." She grinned again, carefully stepping towards him.
"Can you play pop?"
He took in a sharp inhale of breath, making her stop and worry, then exhaled and turned to her. "For you, pop it is." Again, a smile cracked on her face. She finally got next to him as he turned the knob to change stations. "Just don't mind me if I start melting like that witch from the Wizard of Oz when it plays."
She laughed, shaking her head. "It's not that bad, Eddie."
He shook his head, feigning a fearful expression. "You don't understand, sweet, innocent Chrissy Cunningham." Her grin came back with a vengeance as she tilted her head. He spoke slower and dramatically. "All that sugary sweet music everyone else loves to hear, sung by men and women who used up the entire bottle of hairspray-" She giggled. "-with those sappy, piercing synths and fake-sounding drum beats-" There was only static coming out of the radio, though something resembling a song could barely be heard. "-to compliment the sheer oversinging and covering up those weak guitars..." Her giggling turned into a bit of laughter. "That kinda music? Can't stand it. Water to my witch." He finally got to the pop station, which played "This Could Be The Night" by Loverboy.
In a heartbeat, he convulsed, surprising her once again, and sunk to the floor in the most overdramatic way he could. "Eddie!" she exclaimed.
"Chrissy!" he cried out, over the top as he reached a hand towards her. "What have you done?! I'm melting - MELTING!"
Now she burst into laughter as he continued to stagger and sink down, screaming and gurgling in a raspy way. "Eddie, stop being so overdramatic! I love this song!" He thudded on the floor and flopped over on his back, still writhing around like he really was melting. She bent over, covering her mouth with her hand as she watched him. She was laughing so hard, she could cry. All of her anxiety and worries melted like he was pretending to be.
"Must...get...Special...K..." he waned out, turning himself around and crawling towards the desk with cabinets where the container should be.
Skipping the party was definitely the right decision for her. She was already having fun here!
As Billy got to the door of the McHollis trailer and whistled as his way of knocking, he saw a girl with a bag storming up the road...the short red hair showed that it was Carol. He became suspicious, wondering why the hell she was out here...and going to the Munson trailer-
The door suddenly opened, whipping his head around to see Ronald at the door, surprised with a smile. "Oh, Billy?" he greeted. "Good evenin'."
Pushing that to the back of his mind for now, he nodded at him, smiling back, "Evenin', Ron. You and the Mrs. want chicken?"
...
Carol saw that Billy was talking to that weirdo Ronald McHollis. She wondered if she should confront him before seeing the lit windows of the trailer. She could even hear some music coming from the back...faintly. She knew that meant Eddie was in there. She decided to talk to him instead since she was closer to the trailer than the run-down McHollis's.
She went up the steps, stopping at the door. She prepared herself. She finally came to the conclusion of what to do, taking deep breaths. She had armed herself with a knife from a kitchen she hid in her back pocket just in case Eddie tried something. She was going to confront him, maybe tell him that she could stay silent about this if he and Billy brought her clean drugs.
She placed her hand on the knob, slowly turning it. She sighed in relief. That meant he wasn't busy. Good, another lucky strike.
Eddie finally reached one drawer after another successful act to ease the nerves of Queen of Hawkins High. He was still on the floor, since that act took some energy. He went through a couple of drawers, then decided to pull out a metallic treasure box, opening it up. He spotted the familiar small black container with the product, grinning and saying, "There we go." And that cheesy girl-centered song was nearly over as well. This was great. He closed the chest and slid it under the desk, getting back up on his feet.
The blonde-haired girl eyed the small black container. "Is that it?"
He nodded. "Peaceful bliss, right at your fingertips." He handed it to her as she used a hand to fork out the money for the drug.
"This was nice," she said warmly, her smile matching that. "Thank you." She handed over the money.
Ignoring his heart racing and holding back the blush threatening to flush his cheeks, he smiled back and gave her a nod. "Don't mention it."
Before he could grab the cash though, they both heard the door suddenly open. They both turned towards the sound, Chrissy frozen while her dealer was confused and on guard. "Eddie?" he heard Carol's voice call out. Now he was frozen, shocked and confused at why she was here. "Eddie, are you here?"
"Um, yeah! Wait a sec!" Eddie replied without a forethought. He faced Chrissy, whose expression matched his feelings. He whispered to her, "Stay here. Don't move." She nodded timidly before he got out of his room, roaming down the small hallway to see his former schoolmate and high-paying customer standing right in his living room.
"Uh, Carol, heeeeey..." he greeted her with unease. She glared at him, looking even more uneasy. "You shouldn't be here."
She scoffed. "Not the first time I've been here," she retorted.
He became tense. "Because I invited you when I didn't have your shit, Carol. Doesn't mean you should come barging in. I have a client right now-"
She scoffed. "You do? With the door unlocked?" Shit...
"I forgot to lock, okay?" His voice was sharp.
Scared but curious, Chrissy slowly approached the doorway out of sight and carefully peered over, seeing the two in the kitchen now. Her eyes widened when she recognized Carol Perkins, the previous Princess of Hawkins High. She looked very different though. What happened?
He approached her, stern. "Can you please leave? I need to wrap up the deal."
"Oh, you need to wrap up a deal with laced drugs?"
A shock coursed through his body as he stopped, his eyes wide. "What?" Chrissy felt just as shocked hearing the accusation too.
"The drugs I got from Billy earlier today." She opened up her bag and dumped everything on the floor. "The weed gave me nightmares today."
Eddie was in utter disbelief. "What?" he repeated in the same tone as his expression.
Carol was now angry. "You think this is a joke?"
He held his hands up, genuinely taken aback. "No, no, that's not-"
"The weed's never done that before-" She stormed towards him, but he managed to dodge her and turn around. He backed away. "-in fact, it's given me an even WORSE nightmare than before!" Chrissy's blood ran cold at that. "And who knows what the other drugs would've done?!"
"Carol, I'm sorry that happened to you, but I swear, that shit's clean-"
"No it's not. You and Billy must've laced them with something!"
Laced...the drugs? The thought of him doing that made Chrissy's heart sink. She had only ever known him today, but...she felt like he wouldn't do that...would he?
He shook his head, aghast at the accusation. "The hell we did! Rick's drugs are always clean-"
She turned to the open door, making the strawberry blonde hide away from the frame. "Hey, hey client! The drugs are laced-" She smiled ironically, heading there. "-so you might as well get your money back!" She felt more fearful as she heard the footsteps come closer.
Eddie panicked, grabbing her wrist to stop her. "Carol, don't go there-"
"Don't TOUCH ME!" She pulled out her knife, making him let go and step back in pure shock.
"JESUS! You got a KNIFE?!"
She stomped towards him, the guy stepping back. "I had to come prepared."
"Prepared for what?! Carol, we don't sell laced shit-"
"You're LYING!" she yelled, getting closer with the knife.
"I'M NOT, CAROL!" She thought she heard a clock chime, but ignored it.
"THESE THINGS HELP ME ESCAPE MY NIGHTMARES-" She angrily pointed at the spilled drugs with the knife. "-NOT REINFORCE THEM!"
"CAROL, IF YOU'VE BEEN HAVING NIGHTMARES, YOU SHOULDN'T DO DRUGS!" Those words rang in the cheerleader's head like bells. An awful feeling grew at the pit of her stomach.
She ignored the next clock chime. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO?!" She pointed at him with the knife when she said 'you'. "I KNOW WHAT I WANT! AND I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I SMOKE WEED! IT'S NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE, SO YOU DID SOMETHING!"
"I DIDN'T, CAROL!"
"I'LL CALL THE POLICE ON YOU AND BILLY AND TELL THEM AAALLLL ABOUT YOUR OPERATION!" Her ironic smile was back, combined with her wide eyes. He looked horrified as she nodded. "That's right. I'll call them if you don't tell me the truth." She went to the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Carol, don't." He approached her slowly. "Carol, get away from the phone."
"Try and stop me." She faced him with a look of challenge. "If you wanna get stabbed." He gulped, still carefully approaching her as she dialed 9-1-1. She thought she heard another chime, but she shrugged it off since she didn't take any other drugs today.
"Carol, don't do this." His voice was tight. "Please...our products aren't laced." Chrissy peered over again, seeing the desperate and hurt look on his face. She didn't know what to think of this...she didn't want to think that this kind guy was going to sell her laced drugs, but...what if Carol was also telling the truth...?
She ignored him as the dial tone, making her say, "Come on, come on, come-" Suddenly, just as the dial tone picked up...the phone let out the fourth chime. That chime could be heard in and outside the trailer too. The redhead's blood ran cold. Was she-?
"CAROL, NO!" Eddie shouted as she felt him pull her away from the phone.
She screamed and struggled against him before shanking his stomach with the knife. She froze, seeing the weapon bleed around the cut skin. She could only watch as he planted himself against the wall, glaring at her intensely.
"You're such a bitch, Carol," Eddie said rather coldly. She glared back. He didn't even try to pull it out, just returned her glare. "No wonder Tommy left you."
Anger flared inside her when that name was mentioned. "Shut up, Eddie! This has NOTHING to do with him!" she shouted, scrambling for the phone. "I'm calling the police! You and Billy are going straight to jail!"
Much to her surprise and shock, he chuckled in a wicked manner, giving her goosebumps. He spread his arms out, looking scarily smug. "Go right ahead." She heard his voice go low...his skin rotting. The air escaped her lungs in a gasp. "Pin the police on us. Blame somebody else for your mistakes." His voice became even more lower and more distorted, his skin seeping into itself and creating burn holes. His eyes even turned from a deep dark-brown to a dead white. She disregarded the phone entirely and backed herself to the door. "Bury everything that links you to being a terrible person."
She opened the door in a heartbeat and got the hell away from the trailer, running as fast as she could. As she was running, she noticed the ground being bare with dead grass and...vines? She looked around...not seeing any trailers, RVs, or mobile homes anywhere - not even the Munson's. It was like the entire park was abandoned. Red lightning struck and thunder rolled, making her look up at the now stormy sky. Her breathing was quick and uneven, never feeling more petrified in her life.
In one minute, Carol was yelling at him and calling the police. The next, she suddenly stopped and stood still...catatonic even. "Carol?" he asked. She didn't respond at all. He carefully held her shoulders and turned her around. Her eyes were rolled up and twitching as well. This immediately made him worried, despite what's happened before. He hung up the phone as the knife thudded on the floor.
"Carol? Carol, hey," he said to make her respond. His worry grew higher. "Can ya hear me?" Nothing. "Hellooooooo? Carol." He snapped his fingers in front of her face to get a response. Still nothing. "Wake up, Carol. C'mon." Waved his hand over her face. Nothing. Then it hit him:
She must've been overdosing on something else right now.
It had also been odd to Chrissy that Carol just stopped and went still all of a sudden. And Eddie was trying to get her to respond, although she wasn't. She had a bad feeling about this...a really, really bad feeling...
Just as Billy gave Ron the chicken and rice for his family after a bit of conversation, he froze up when the door shut. He felt the drop in body temperature as well as no air in his lungs. His skin was on edge. He slowly got a shaky hand on the back of his neck, absolutely shocked that this feeling came up again after a few days ago. So then that wasn't a fluke.
"He" was here...again.
Shit.
"Carol..." a low, threatening voice croaked. She turned around, trying to find the monster behind that voice. There was still nobody around...just her...alone. "Don't be afraid, Carol." Then, not too far from her, she saw a figure slowly approaching...her monster.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" She burst into a sprint, wanting to get the hell away from that thing as soon as she could.
For some reason, there was a house at the entrance of the park, but she didn't question it. If it could get her away from that thing, she'd get in. So she did, slamming the door behind her and not looking back.
Carol bolted to the kitchen, opening the backdoor. Unfortunately, it was barricaded, much to her frustration. She let out a cry before bolting away to all the other doors she could find. Either they were barricaded or didn't lead to the outside. The windows were even barred as well. The best bet she had were the ones upstairs, so she sprinted up there. She went to the first door she found and opened it up...
Seeing Tommy in bed with Slutty Betty, who was fast asleep.
Her jaw dropped...this couldn't be happening again.
"T-Tommy...?" she asked, her voice broken as her eyes welled up.
"What the hell, Carol?" he replied coldly, sitting up and facing her. "I thought I told you-" What had happened to Eddie earlier happened with him, his voice distorted, skin rotted, eyes dead and pale. "-to stay away from my house." She screamed and slammed the door shut. This-this was Tommy's place, so she knew what rooms had windows up here.
She ran to the other end of the hallway, opening that door only to see her parents in the same manner. Her heart froze for a moment. "You disappoint us, Carol," her mother said sharply and bitingly.
"What would your brother and sister think of you?" her father asked in the same tone. She shivered, tears rolling down her face.
"Get out of our house."
She slammed the door on them and ran to the other end, opening that up. Winning Winston, looking like the rest, glared into her eyes with a growl. "Where's my money, Babycakes?"
"NOOO!" she cried out as she slammed the door. She could feel "Winston" try to open it, similar to her nightmare from earlier. But she tried her best to keep it shut.
"Carol! CAROL! OPEN THE DOOR!"
"STOP! NO!"
"I KNOW YOU GOT THE GODDAMN MONEY, NOW LET ME IN!" It became more difficult to keep it closed.
"STOP, PLEASE!"
"CAROL! IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW, I'M LEAVING YOU WITH THE REST OF THE TRASH!"
"NOOOOOOOO!" She couldn't keep it closed any longer, so she let go of the knob and bolted down the stairs, going back to the entrance.
She swung that door open, seeing the barricades that kept out all the other doors. Desperate and horrified, she tried to break it down in any way she could. All while shrieking from the top of her lungs, "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP! HEEEEELP! EDDIE! BILLY! TOMMY! ANYBODY! PLEASE! PLEASE!"
"Chrissy! Call 9-1-1!" Eddie shouted to his client while shaking Carol. She appeared at the doorway, shivering in horror at what was going on. He looked over at her, desperate and pleading. "CALL 9-1-1!"
She quickly nodded and rushed to find a phone. She picked up the receiver from the wall near the desk with her free hand, placing the Special K container on the surface as she shakily dialed the number. Meanwhile, the long-haired guy tried everything he can to get Carol to wake up, to no avail.
"Carol, wake up! Snap out of it!" he shouted, his voice laced with terror and worry. "Come on, Carol! Break out of it!" He patted her shoulders in quick succession. "Carol, waaake uuuup! I don't like this, Carol! Wake UUUUUUP!"
Suddenly, just as he said that Chrissy waited for the police to pick up, the lights began to flicker rapidly, getting their attention. This just kept getting more and more terrifying. Chrissy's breath shook like she did as she held the receiver to her ear, hearing the dial tone go in and out with the lights. She felt cold. So did Eddie.
Suddenly, the lights all around the park began to flicker. He whipped his head around, seeing that the lights were blinking more rapidly inside the Munson trailer. He felt like he was struck by lightning when he realized "he" was taking someone in there.
"Carol," the monster that haunted her called out. She stopped hitting the barricade, shaking like a leaf as she slowly turned to the direction of the voice.
She saw him come down the stairs, taking in his terrifying appearance. He was someone with rotted skin, dead white eyes, and...such an inhuman appearance. He kept growling as he approached her. She froze, whimpering and crying more. She was trapped...she was going to die.
She was going to die.
She pressed herself against the barricade, feeling the worst she could ever feel as it towered over her, tilting his head. There was a squelchy crack to it.
"The phone's not working!" Chrissy cried out in bleakness, putting the phone back on the receiver.
"SHIT!" he exclaimed. He patted his hands on Carol's cheeks before doing the same to her shoulders again. "CAROL! CAROL! CAROL! CAROL, BREAK THE HELL OUT OF IT! CAROL!" Chrissy just stood there, unable to move, unable to think past how terrifying this was.
The monster let a jagged finger go to her face. She turned it away, afraid to be ripped apart by him. "Do not cry, Carol," he said gently(?). "For it is time...for your suffering...to end." She faced him again, seeing him raise his claws up above her face. He hung his head up as he let out a hum.
She was going to die.
She was going to die right now.
"CAROL!" Eddie yelled one last time before he suddenly felt her shoulders...go higher? No, wait.
Chrissy's jaw dropped when she saw Carol's feet off the ground...she was levitating up. Eddie noticed that too, jolting back as he exclaimed, "What the...?!" They both watched as the red-haired girl floated up in the air. Even more scared than before, the cheerleader ran up and hid behind her dealer.
"E-Eddie...?" she squeaked out, her voice small and wavering. "What's happening...?" Shit, he didn't know...
Other than the fact than what they were witnessing right now was coming straight out of a horror movie.
She was going to die right now.
She was going to-
The claws dug right into her face, the girl's mind drawing a blank as she felt a pull on everything in her body.
Her body slammed onto the roof, the two jolting back and losing their balance. Chrissy screamed while Eddie exclaimed, "HOLY SHIT!" They both fell on the ground, the lights flickering more and more quickly as they saw parts of her body shake unnaturally.
She felt nothing in her right arm.
And it was the first bone to break on her body.
Then her left.
Which broke as well.
Neither of them could say or make any noise...their fear had never been higher.
Her legs...she can't...
Both of those broke the same way.
Her face...
The jaw cracked loose while the eyes bled.
Both Eddie and Chrissy let out ear-piercing screams of horror.
Her...
Her-
Finally, in a mere second, her eyes imploded.
Carol...
Billy felt it...felt everything.
"He" took Carol.
And that's it for Episode 1! What do you guys think of this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?
This was a hell of a chapter. I really loved writing the extra bonding moments between Eddie and Chrissy as well as the argument between him and Carol as well. Hoped you guys loved them too!
Unfortunately, Carol's the first victim. To no one's surprise, but still, poor girl...
But yes, this means that Chrissy lives!
...for now.
When I said this season's gonna have a slightly larger cast back in "War Child", I mean it. That meant that Chrissy's gonna be part of the main cast...for now! I felt like there could've been more done with her character, so she's living and well...she witnessed Carol's death with Eddie, so you guys know what that means... ;)
I didn't really acknowledge that Billy now has Will's 6th sense, so here's me acknowledging this now! It only felt natural after having him live. I really think it's a side effect from getting possessed and getting out of that. So that means the Hawkins group won't be entirely blind when investigating the goings on! But him feeling Carol being taken...woof.
Anyways, keep supporting this fanfic and I'll see you guys in the next episode! :D