⇢ ˗ˏˋ ✰🎨 🎸 ࿐ྂ

"𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮."
➶-͙˚ ༘✶ ˗ˏˋ ✰꒰ 📎 🍒 ꒱✰ ˎˊ- ➶ °*ೃ
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EDDIE MUNSON WAS PAINFULLY sobbing from the death of his lover, Cerise Harrington. Her lifeless and warped body remained in his arms, Eddie cradling her back and forth, not daring to open his eyes in an attempt to keep reality out of his aching mind.

Deep inside, Eddie knew that Cerise was gone, simply from the slipping of her once warm luling body. The frigid iciness of her skin was piercing his hot one, a clear indication of her deprived lifeless body was becoming a horrendous reality.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here as long as you need me to be. I love you, I love you," Eddie insistently muttered, his salted tears trickling against Cerise's sunken cheeks. His ring-cladded fingers were erratically shaking, gently brushing small strokes of her chapped lips with the back of his fingers.

As Eddie was too engulfed with his girlfriend in his arms, he didn't comprehend the abrupt sounds of the wooden door nearly flying off its hinges as a bloodshot-eyed Steve Harrington stumbled in the shed. He frantically surveyed his surroundings, dropping his vision to see the boy he despised the most, cradling his dead baby sister.

Steve didn't say anything at first, barely acknowledging the Munson boy's presence. His eyes were specifically trained on Cerise's body and a single tear fell down his cheeks, his mouth opened from pure aching torture.

When he heard Eddie's frantic voice over the walkie-talkie, Steve couldn't believe it, but now that his little sister; the most important person to him in the world, was lying lifeless in Eddie Munson's arms. Reality was kicking in for him.

"R-Ressie?"

Steve's shaky voice begrudgingly brought Eddie back into present time. Both of the boys did not care about their long-standing feud, the only thing that they could focus on was Cerise.

"Steve—s-she's dea—" Eddie started, but didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when Steve abruptly cut him off, waving his hands in an austere manner.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. She's not dead." Even Steve could barely convince himself.

"Look at her, Steve!" Eddie screamed, making Steve jump in his place slightly. It was a miracle that the neighbors residing near the house didn't hear the entire catastrophe. Eddie's forehead was pressed against hers and he whispered the soft words; "I'll meet you in our next life."

Steve crouched down to Eddie's level, crossing his legs so he can be near his sister. Without warning, the Harrington boy carried his sister's dead body out of Eddie's arms and placed her into his arms, her head resting on his chest.

"Stevie's here, Ressie." He cradled her body back and forth just like Eddie did minutes ago. "You're not alone now."

Eddie's eyebrows contorted with anger, him having been with her from the moment of her death, but he didn't have enough energy to call out Steve. The only thing on his mind was the fact that he had just got his life back together.

And it crumbled within the snap of his fingers.

✰*ੈ✩➶༄✰

Cerise's stomach was churning repetitively in her body, sprinting away into the deep replicating world of Hawkins, Indiana. Falling debris was crashing into the bloodied grounds of The Upside Down, knocking Cerise off of her feet several times.

This was not the first time Cerise has seen this place, in fact, it was as if she recognized the entire map of the dimension.

Vecna was not following far behind the girl, his long viscid claws were threatening to reach her curly locks and his vines were trailing near her waist. Luckily for her, her daily jogs seemed to pay up for situations like this.

Cerise was about to reach over a brick fence, until she felt the viscous slime of tentacles tightly slither up her body, ripping her off of her feet. She screamed in fear, desperately attempting to grasp anything on the floor to prevent her from getting closer to the monster. Dirt rose up to her fingernails, and her cheeks were dusted with cuts and bruises.

The monster wrapped the girl onto the tall pillar, a vine choking the girl, restraining her from catching any air. Cerise's arms were wrapped behind herself, her vulnerable skin exposed to him.

"Cerise—your time has finally come. To join me by my side." The monster's eyes were piercing into her mahogany ones, not blinking for a second. Cerise's stoic expression did not once falter as she stared deeply into his eyes.

"Well, I just found out I have a boyfriend, so I think I'm good. Thanks for the offer though," Cerise snarked, earning a scowl from the monster. Vecna sauntered closer to Cerise, their faces inches apart and he tilted his head slightly, while Cerise kept up her tough composure.

However, despite Cerise seeing this harrowing monster several times in the past and when she looked straight into his glistening cerulean eyes, something sparked inside her eyes. A sense of warmth and familiarity resonated in her body and her eyes softened.

"Henry Creel?"

Nothing. Absolute silence. The only sounds were the debris falling and the splashes of bloodied rain trickling against the puddles in the ground. Vecna was appalled at the name he hadn't used in decades and he gasped ever so slightly at his biological name. He stumbled backward, arms falling to his sides as he lost his mind in distressing thoughts. He looked back up to Cerise to see that she held a blank expression, making it harder for him to read her even with his powers.

"How do you know that name?" Vecna sneered, charging once again at the Harrington girl. Their faces were once again inches away from each other and this time, Cerise acquired the confidence to move her face closer to his.

"I just do. I don't know why, but I just knew," Cerise remarked, even shocking herself. It was like her mind was throwing scrambling names into her head, but once she developed what seemed to sound right to her, she blurted out the name.

The now seemingly terrifying monster stared off into nowhere for several seconds before adverting his eyes on Cerise. He closed his eyes calmly, grumbling deeply.

What happened next shocked Cerise, her mind clouding with incoherent emotions. The blonde man Cerise has seen many times in her world, was now standing in front of her. The vines wrapped around her body evaporated and she gracelessly fell onto the ground.

"Peter? What the f—"

"Cerise, I need you to listen to me." Peter tried to interfere, but it was no use. Cerise was too stubborn for her own being and she interrupted the blonde man once again.

"Holy shit, you're Vecna!?" Cerise began to pace back and forth, Peter giving the girl a confused expression. Ripping himself out of his thoughts, Peter put his hand on Cerise's shoulder, his other one tilting her chin up to make sure she would look at him in the eyes.

"I don't know who 'Vecna' is, but there is a reason why you are here with me," Peter started, his sunken cheekbones becoming more prominent in the bloodied red moonlight. "There is a reason why I am keeping you alive, Cerise."

"Well, why are you keeping me alive? I don't think this dimension is really my...forte." Peter rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and stood taller, his towing figure looking down at her. Cerise gulped slightly, the intimidation of the man slowly getting to her.

"I want you to join me," Peter blatantly stated, his eyesight not once leaving Cerises. The girl's eyebrows rose, confusion and unease laced on her face.

"Um, like a cult—"

"No, I want you to join me by my side. Together, we can build a better—more stable world where we don't have to live in fear or pain. You, Cerise Harrington, have the power and mindset to lead with me." Peter subconsciously walked closer to Cerise as he talked, nearly leaving no space between their bodies. He backed up slightly, noticing the way Cerise seemed to be uncomfortable, and internally cursed at himself for doing so.

"Wow, um, as intriguing as that sounds, I would like to go back to my world with my supposed boyfriend," Peter growled deeply in anger, his fists curling into balls at the sides of his body.

"You were supposed to be angry with him. Not forgive him and call him your 'boyfriend.'" Cerise scoffed at Peter's sudden distaste of Eddie's name, sensing a sinister sensation radiating from the man.

"Why do you care so much? What, are you jealous or something? 'Cause I think you're a little too old for me." Cerise's snarky tone seemed to only irritate Peter even further, so when he pushed her back into the pillar, she gasped at the small loss of air, his hand tightly wrapped near her lower neck. He didn't say anything, only staring down into her eyes as his blonde hair flowed graciously with the small wind that breezed through the pair.

"Fine, I guess I will have to do this my way then."

Just like that, with a snap of his fingers, Peter transported Cerise back into her dimension, stripping away her memory from the conversation they just had. But what she didn't know was that conversation was going to be important in the future.

✰*ੈ✩➶༄✰

The piercing sound of Cerise's dramatic gasp alerted both Steve and Eddie, the two boys standing on their feet in fear as seconds ago, Cerise's mangled body was on the floor. But now, she was alive and looking as if she was never dead in the first place.

Eddie's eyes popped out of his sockets, his tear-stained cheeks slightly curving into a disbelieving smile. He wasted no seconds as he leaped toward the girl, embracing her now alive body in his arms. He didn't know how she was possibly alive, but he didn't waste a second touching her just in case she were to disappear in his arms.

Cerise hugged him back, tears staining his denim jacket. He instantly pulled away and crashed his lips on hers, the two of them pulling away as Eddie brought his hands to her cheeks, one of them tilting her chin to make her look into his eyes.

She got a sudden feeling of deja vu.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. You're okay. We have all the time in the world. Don't worry about anything. I'm here."

Steve was still too in shock, he didn't even care that Eddie was smashing his lips on his sister once again. The only thing on his mind was how on earth was she standing right now.

Feeling another presence in the room, Cerise turned her head to meet the devastating eyes older brother. She let go of Eddie, the boy reluctantly letting her go as he didn't want to be away from her touch, and she trod closer to Steve.

Once she reached him, the first thing she did was strike him hard across the face, the look of confusion and pain contorting in Steve's eyes.

"Ow. What the hell, Ressie!?"

"That's for not telling me that Eddie was my boyfriend," Cerise spat shakily before embracing her brother in a bone-crushing hug. Steve hugged back instantaneously while rubbing the stinging feeling on his face.

His eyes trailed toward Eddie and he instantly grew angry. "You told her!?"

"Ow, my ears," Cerise whispered to herself. She noticed the way that Steve was charging toward Eddie and before they could have an altercation, she stopped it. "Jesus, I just came back from the dead, literally, so for the love of God, can you please take the night off from ripping each other's heads off?"

The boys held a look of sympathy and nodded their heads. Cerise sighed exasperatedly, tears unknowingly streaming down her cheeks. Her stomach grumbled in the quiet room and she looked up at her brother with a pleading look.

"Can you please get Dairy Queen? I'm hungry," Cerise murmured quietly. Steve knowing that he wanted to do anything to please his sister, nodded his head and left with no questions. When he exited out of the shed, Cerise and Eddie did as well, walking their way into the main home.

"I need to take a shower," Cerise whispered, but Eddie heard her. The tears were not stopping and Eddie wished he knew what happened to her in the time she was gone.

He nodded his head and led her to the bathroom and was about to close the door for her until she stopped him. Eddie gave her a questioning look with concern, peering through the slit of the door that separated the couple

"Stay. Please," Cerise pleaded with a trembling tone. Eddie's eyes widened and he blinked his eyes rapidly, questioning if he had heard her right.

"Um, are you sure, sweetheart? I could just wait outside the bathroom—"

"No, please stay inside with me. I can't be alone." Seeing how scared she sounded, Eddie nodded his head and walked into the secluded bathroom. He noticed the way Cerise instantly stripped out of her clothes without warning and his eyes widened.

"Oh—um, are you sure you're comfortable being completely n-naked with me here?" Eddie stammered on his words, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. A minuscule smile appeared on Cerise's face.

"It's okay, Eddie," she mumbled. Cerise ran the warm water and got into the shower. Her tears mixed with the streams of water that splashed onto her face. Her heart started to beat faster as she closed her eyes, sparks of unfathomable memories flashing behind her eyes. She let out a piercing sob and that one sound alerted Eddie to his feet.

"Are you okay, Little Red?" Cerise silently shook her head before peering outside of the shower curtain, looking to face Eddie who had a look of concern.

"Can you please..." Cerise couldn't even finish her sentence as she bitterly closed her eyes. "I really can't be alone now."

Eddie, knowing Cerise like how much he knew Dungeons and Dragons, nodded his head and started to strip off his clothes, leaving the Munson boy completely naked. His heart was beating out of his chest, but he swallowed his pride and shuffled the shower curtains to see a soaked Cerise, the tears, however, evident.

"Oh, baby, come here." Cerise wrapped her arms around Eddie's waist, her face burrowed in his slightly hairy chest. Eddie's arms snaked around her waist, rubbing the familiar soothing circles on the small of her back as the soothing water drenched their bodies.

Eddie and Cerise did not even care that the two of them were completely stripped of their clothes. When people would think of a couple showering together, their minds would churn into inappropriate ones, but for Cerise and Eddie, the only feeling between them was comfort, adoration, and devotion.

Eddie peppered small kisses on her cheeks, not breaking away from the hug. He whispered comforting words such as 'you're okay' or 'I'm not going anywhere' and Cerise was instantly soothed by his comforting voice.

"What do you remember?" Eddie suddenly asked, his comforting touch not leaving her.

"That's the scary thing. I don't remember anything. Not from when I was dead." Eddie simply nodded his head, not wanting to pry or aggravate Cerise's thoughts any further.

Nearing minutes later, the couple finished their shower and dried off their bodies entirely. With Eddie being out of the shower and with the better lighting, Cerise was able to steal a couple of glances of Eddie's shirtless body. His damp curls accented his muscles and she couldn't help but stare.

But she was staring for too long.

"Like what you see, baby?" Eddie asked with a smirk. Seeing that she has been staring for too long, Cerise adverted her gaze to the shirt in front of her and put it on.

"Meh, I guess," Cerise attempted to suppress her actual feelings. On the inside of her mind, Cerise was internally rioting at how beautiful Eddie looked.

"You know, instead of Mike and Dustin giving me a Hellfire shirt, you should have just given me yours." Cerise joked, looking down at the Hellfire shirt that caressed her body. Eddie smirked and slowly made his way to Cerise, kissing her nose.

"You've always looked gorgeous in my clothes, sweetheart." Cerise chuckled lightly before grabbing Eddie's hand and taking him to the sofa in the living room. He had only his jeans and denim jacket on his body and when the couple plopped onto the couch, Cerise couldn't help but feel the rushing feeling of heat flowing in her cheeks as Eddie's muscular arms wrapped around her waist. Eddie propped up Cerise so she was now sitting in his lap.

His warmth felt like home, something Cerise hasn't felt in a long time. She pressed her face into Eddie's shoulder and his mint and pine scent alone was enough for her to feel a comforting daze of sleep.

Eddie noticed the way that Cerise was starting to doze off and he chuckled. The vibrations from his laugh made Cerise quirk her lip into a smile.

"Go to sleep, baby, you had a long day." That was enough for Cerise to close her eyes, still feeling the adoring stares of her supposed boyfriend. She nearly drifted off into a peaceful slumber, but that was until she heard a voice. A vaguely familiar one too.

"I'm not done with you, Cerise," his voice appeared in her head. She perked her head up slightly, but her sleepiness took over. She ignored the strange voice in her ears and snuggled closer to Eddie's warm body,

Oh, but how that stranger's voice was going to be the cause of all of her problems.

*imitates frankenstein* SHE'S ALIVE

THEORIES FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS?!

sooo, let's check in. how are we liking the book so far?