Chapter Nine: Listening
Sitting on the dusty wooden ground in front of Eddie, Clara listened intently as he told his side of the story. His voice was shaky and not at all like the confident guy he had been at lunch only the day before.
"Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh… she just, like, hung there," he said. "In the air." He was refusing to make eye contact with Clara, so she looked everywhere but at him.
Her heart was racing faster than it usually did and she subconsciously leaned into Steve's leg. The boy glanced down at her and she felt his worry for her radiating off of him. He was always worried about her. She'd survived hell but he would always treat her like she was a delicate and fragile piece of glass… which maybe she was, but still.
"And her bones… uh, she…"
Eddie let out a tiny whimper and she reached out, grabbing his hand. His rings were freezing against her skin, but she ignored the discomfort as he squeezed her hand lightly.
"Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man…" She watched as he looked at Dustin, his voice coming out more as a whisper. "It… it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling." He took another deep, shaky breath. "I… I didn't know what to do, so I… I ran away. I left her there."
His eyes bore into Clara now, grief and sorrow evident. He was apologetic and she didn't know what to say to calm him. Parts of her were wrestling with his words. He hadn't killed Chrissy, she knew that. But instead of calling someone, he had run away, leaving her body to rot on the ground of his trailer.
When none of them said anything, everyone in shock much like Clara.
Eddie scoffed, "You all think I'm crazy, right?"
"No. We don't' think you're crazy," Dustin tried to soothe.
"Don't bullshit me, man!" Eddie snapped, jumping to his feet to pace in front of him. He dropped Clara's hand and she pushed a piece of hair behind her eyes. "I know how this sounds!"
"We're not bullshitting you," Max said.
"We believe you," Robin agreed.
As Eddie exhaled deeply, Clara spoke up.
"What we're about to tell you is… a little… difficult to take." He paused, looking at her. He blinked; confusion written all over his face.
"Okay," he muttered.
"You know how people say Hawkins is…" She looked to Dustin for help, and he took over for her.
"Cursed? Well, they're not way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins."
For a brief moment, Clara found herself back in that other world. She had always called it Wrong Hawkins when she was trapped the first time, though when Dustin had told her what the party had named it, she had to agree. The Upside Down was fitting.
Dustin's words were muffled as Clara walked slowly through her everlasting nightmare.
"Sometimes, it bleeds into ours."
"Like ghosts and shit?" Eddie asked. She heard herself answer as she paused in the middle of the road. Her voice echoey and distant.
"There are some things worse than ghosts."
What could be worse than ghosts? Maybe the flying bats that circled overhead. Maybe the monsters that lurked behind every corner. She blinked and found herself standing outside Castle Byers. She hadn't been back since the Byers left town. She startled, seeing something move in the background.
She jolted back to reality, focusing on Dustin's voice. Steve gently nudged her, having noticed her drifting off in thought. She shook her head at him, giving him an "I'm fine" look.
"These monsters from this other world… we thought they were gone," Dustin was saying. "But they've come back before. That's why we needed to find you."
"If they're back again, we need to know," Max told him.
Shaking her head, Clara looked over at them. The monsters had never left. El might have, but they didn't. You can't kill demons after all.
"That night," Robin began. "Did you see anything?"
"Dark particles, maybe?" Max suggested. He shook his head.
"It would like almost like dust, swirling dust," Clara murmured, playing with her necklace. She would away remember the dust. It had taken over Will and would have consumed her if not for El.
In fact, they would have never escaped the Upside Down if not for El. They would have never defeated the mind flayer if not for El. They would have never… No! There was no use thinking about El. Not right now. There were no more superpowers, no more government screwups that would cover up the tracks. There was only here and now, with Eddie and the rest of the gang in the boathouse, trying to figure out what happened the night before.
"No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh… or touch," Eddie murmured. He looked down at Clara and she met his gaze. "You know, uh, I tried to wake her," he whispered to her. "She couldn't move. It was like she… she was in a trance or something."
"Or under a spell," Dustin suggested.
"A curse," Eddie said slowly.
"Vecna's curse," Dustin said. Clara's brow furled as Steve asked the question she was thinking.
"Who's Vecna?"
"An undead creature of great power," Dustin answered, staring at the ground.
"A spell caster," Eddie said.
"A dark wizard," Dustin added.
The two exchanged looks while the others stared at them in confusion. Clara rubbed at her forehead, trying to keep calm. Everything led to that stupid game. Even by disavowing it, she still found herself trapped in the never-ending cycle. The only way to escape would be to win, and Clara would never win.
End of Episode 2! Sorry for taking so long, I'm working on moving so I have very little time to sit down and write. This was definitely an easier episode to write than episode one though and after seeing Vol. 2, I'm slightly dreading having to write those episodes. Every episode is long, but those last two are killer. Good thing I decided to only follow Clara and Eddie and not everyone else or this story would go on forever.
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