❝𝐃𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐒❞

Eddie sat in the living room, his leg bouncing up and down sporadically as you looked at him. He wouldn't speak or say anything to you, he just sat there staring into space. You grabbed a glass, pouring cold water into it. You slowly approached Eddie, standing before him, "Eddie?" You spoke softly. You were clueless as to what happened. You have never seen him like this. What could cause him to act like this?

"Eddie, I have a glass of water for you." You swallowed thickly, afraid to touch him. He continued to bounce his leg up and down, not paying any attention to you. "I'm gonna put it here, okay?" You gently place the glass on the coffee table, glancing at him. You had no idea what to do in this situation. Do you call Robin? Do you call your parents? You dried your hands on the fabric of your pants.

You slowly sat down next to him, grabbing the remote beside you, turning on the television. "Do you wanna watch a movie to help you calm down or something?" You rested your head in your hands, snuggling up on the couch. You stared at him, waiting for an answer, but nothing came out of his mouth. Not a single peep. "Listen we don't have to do anything or say anything. But, I need you to let me know if you're okay." You placed your hand on his shoulder, the rough fabric of his jean vest touching your skin.

"Can I stay here tonight?" He looked at you, he was on edge. You removed your hand from his shoulder, nodding your head. You were relieved to hear words come from his mouth after about forty-five minutes of complete silence from him. It was unlike for Eddie not to talk. He reached over to the glass, his hand shaking as he picked it up, drinking slowly. Removing your gaze from him, you continued clicking away at the tv, flipping through channels. "You can sleep on the couch."

Eddie looked at you, noticing you weren't looking at him, though you could feel him staring at you. "Is that fine?" You asked, slowly turning your head to look back at him. "Uh, yeah, yeah." He nodded, tearing his eyes away from you. "Here," you handed him the remote. "You can watch whatever you'd like," you stood up from the couch, "but I am going back to bed. If you need me, I'll be upstairs." The hardwood creaked under your feet as you walked away. You were still extremely curious about what happened, but you weren't going to pester him about it. He clearly was too uncomfortable to talk about. But whatever it was, it shook him up pretty bad.

Reaching the first step, you stopped and looked at him, "goodnight, Munson!" You called out. Eddie lifted his head, looking at you from the living room. He didn't say anything back. Letting out a sigh, you continued walking upstairs, feeling the carpet under your feet as you entered your room. You shut the door behind you, walking over to your bed, and laying on it, tossing the covers over you. You pushed aside the books from your research assignment before reaching for your lamp, turning it off.

Adjusting your head on the pillow, you closed your eyes, letting out a deep breath.

━━━━━

The sun peeked through your curtain, shining right on your skin. You blinked open your eyes, your hand shielding you from the sun. You let out a small groan before a yawn left your mouth. You looked over at the clock on your nightstand, it was one in the afternoon. You sat up, removing the covers from your body, feeling the coldness of the room on your skin. Your mind immediately jumped to Eddie, wondering if he was doing okay and if he would finally talk.

Opening your bedroom door, you hugged yourself, trying to warm yourself up. "Eddie?!" You called out as you walked down the stairs. No response. Maybe he was sleeping. "Eddie?!" You rubbed your eyes as you made your way to the living room, only to find it empty. "Eddie?"

A Hawkins High student has been found dead this morning...

You turned to look at the television, noticing the news was on. "What?!" You say in disbelief, grabbing the remote from the couch and turning it up. The reporter continued to talk, "we are unsure as to who this student is, but we hope to hear more information on the matter soon." She spoke. You dropped the remote, noticing they were reporting in front of Eddie's trailer. "Eddie!" You screamed, running towards the bathroom, quickly opening the door. He wasn't there. Your breathing began to quicken as you ran to the front door, noticing it had been unlocked. He must have left.

"Eddie..."

━━━━━

You hurriedly walked into the video store, pulling open the door with all your force. You looked around the store, noticing Steve putting away movies. "Steve!" You called out, walking over to him. "Woah! Hey, Y/n!" He jumped, letting out a nervous chuckle. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "Is Robin working today?" You asked, trying to catch your breath from running so fast. "Uh, yeah, she's in the back," he pointed. "Why?" He furrowed his brows. You walked past him, heading straight for the back door, "Robin!" You shouted. "Hey! You can't just go back-never mind." Steve sighed, shaking his head.

You pushed open the door just as Robin was walking out. "Y/n, what are you doing here?!" She smiled, looking at you. "Robin," you looked at her, "we have a serious problem." You spoke, your voice shaking. She immediately knew something was wrong. "Oh my gosh, did Eddie make a move on you?!" She gasped. "What?! No!" You shook your head in disgust. Robin walked past you, heading over to the front desk. You followed behind her, "it's something much worse." You whispered, glancing at Steve.

"I don't get what could be worse." She shrugged, grabbing VHS tapes off of the desk. "Have you seen the news-"

"Steve! Robin!" A boy with a hat and a girl with red hair walked in. Both you and Robin turned to him. "Sup, Dustin." Steven smiled. "How many phones do you have?" Dustin asked. "What? Why?" Steve asked. "How many phones, Steve?!" He raised his voice. "Uh, like two."

"Three if you count one in the back." Robin chimed in. "Three is perfect." The girl with red hair looked at Dustin. Dustin slipped his bag off, tossing it over the counter before hopping it. "Woah! Hey! You can't just-what are you doing?!" Steve threw his hands in the air. "Setting up base of operations." He began typing away at the computer.

You furrowed your brows as you continued staring at the kid with the hat. You recognized him. He always sat with Eddie at lunch. "What is up with people just walking in here like they own the place?" Steve muttered under his breath. The girl with red hair hopped over the counter, walking over to Dustin. You had a gut feeling this had something to do with Eddie.

"You're looking for Eddie, aren't you?" You asked, catching Dustin's attention pretty quickly. The girl with red hair looked at you too. "Have you seen him?!" Dustin asked. You nodded, "he showed up at my place scared shitless last night. He wouldn't say anything. He was just...shaking and staring into space. He wouldn't even let me touch him." You looked at Dustin who then looked at the girl. "Is he still at your place?" The girl asked.

You shook your head no, "he disappeared this morning without saying a word. And then, I saw the news." You looked at Robin. "I'm sorry, why are we talking about Eddie "The Freak" Munson right now?" Steve had a confused look on his face, placing his hands on his hips. "Just look." You grabbed the remote off the counter, turning on the tv. The news was on every single channel.

A Hawkins High student has been found dead this morning...

"Holy shit." Robin said breathlessly, leaning up against the counter. "Max said she saw Eddie with Chrissy last night. They went into his trailer and then she heard a loud scream." Dustin looked at you guys. "I saw him walking out the woods with her yesterday after school too." You mentioned. "Wait, Chrissy Cunningham? You're telling me the dead student in Eddie's trailer is Chrissy Cunningham?" Robin looked at you and then Dustin. "I got a peek into the trailer this morning. It was her. She had her cheerleading outfit on." Max said, folding her arms across her chest.

"So, Eddie is a cold-blooded killer." Steve shrugged. "No, Steve! We're trying to rule that out!" Dustin rolled his eyes. "After I heard a scream, the lights began flickering. And I saw Eddie speed off in his van, I'm guessing that's when he went to you." Max looked at you. "The lights flickered?" Steve looked at Max, leaning against the counter. She nodded at his question. "Oh, no." Steve sighed, looking at both Robin and Dustin.

"Am I missing out on something here? Why are flickering lights so important? Isn't finding Eddie more important?" You shook your head in confusion. "How do you even know Eddie? Are you his girlfriend?" Dustin asked, a smile forming on his face. "No! No! I'm just his classmate. We always get paired up with each other." You mumbled. "Oh! You're y/n! Eddie always talks about you saving his ass in most of his classes!" He chuckled.

You ignored Dustin's comment, "I'm still confused about the whole flickering lights." You looked between all of them. Dustin looked at Steve, then Steve looked at Max, and then Max looked at Robin. "You might wanna prepare for this." Dustin raised his brows.

━━━━━

"And that's why the flickering lights are important." Dustin explained. You stood there, staring at your own two feet. You were dumbfounded by what you just heard come out of this kid's mouth. "So, let me get this straight when the lights flicker that means a creature from this alternate dimension is near?" You asked, just to make sure you were getting the story correct. "Yup." Steve, Max, and Dustin said in unison. "And you knew about this?" You turned towards Robin. "Sort of," she shrugged. "Personally, I've only dealt with the Russians. Kind of." She tried to defend herself. "But you guys," you pointed at the other three, "you've actually fought against these things before?" You asked.

"Yeah, they're not very friendly." Steve answered. "That's why it's important we find Eddie." Dustin added. "Eddie couldn't have killed Chrissy then. He's crazy, but he's not some murderer. It has to be one of those creatures you mentioned." You shrugged. "Correct. But, only Eddie knows what really happened. We have to find him before anyone else does. That's why we needed the phones. We call Eddie's friends and see if anyone has seen or heard from him," Dustin began typing away on the computer again. "Which means I need those phones now guys! Hurry up!"

"Right, Right!" Steve hopped the counter, running towards the back to grab the extra phone.

━━━━━

"Thanks." Robin hung up the phone, letting out a sigh. "That was the last one on the list," Dustin crossed the name off with a pen. "Did anyone get anything from anyone?" He asked looking around. "One guy I called said that maybe he was at someone's place called Reefer Rick. He's Eddie's dealer." Max shrugged. "Reefer Rick? Did they give an address at all? A last name?" You asked Max. "Nothing." She shook her head. "If this guys a dealer, maybe he's been caught before. We could just go to the cops and ask for the address." Steve suggested.

"Yeah, real smart Steve. Let's just waddle our asses in there asking for a drug dealers address because Eddie, who's most likely being accused of murder, is probably hiding there." Dustin said in a sarcastic tone with a smile on his face. "Or maybe we can just find out from here." Robin looked at you. Your face lit up as you caught onto her idea, "the computer. He could have rented some movies in the past." You let out a breathy chuckle. "Bingo." Robin ran over to the computer, typing in the name "Rick" as quickly as she could. Everyone huddled around her, their eyes focused on the screen.

"There's twelve Ricks in the system. If we just click through and take a guess, we could have a shot at finding him." Robin began clicking on the names, reading out the movies rented. "Definitely not him." You scrunch your face up. "Agreed." Max said. "What about this one?" She asked, reading aloud three movie titles. "No." You all said in unison, shaking your heads. "Moving on," She clicked on the keyboard. "This one?" She shrugged. "I can already tell from the first movie it's a no." You look at the screen. "Next." She clicked on the next name. Steve read the movies aloud. "Nope, not him" Dustin sighed.

Robin clicked on the next, "this one looks promising." She spoke as you all looked at the movie titles. "That's got to be him." You smiled in satisfaction. Dustin let out a small giggle. "2121 Holland Road." Max read out. "That's out by lovers lake." Steve added, looking at Robin. "The perfect place for a drug dealer to hide. No one's out there." You hopped over the counter, walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" Robin asked. "To find Eddie! What else?!" You pushed open the door, walking towards Steve's car. The others all look at each other before following after you. "You're locking up the store, dingus." Robin smiles at Steve, hopping over the counter and following the others.

"Son of a bitch." Steve runs after you guys, quickly flipping the store sign to 'closed' before he pushed open the door, locking it behind him. He quickly walks towards the car, unlocking it, allowing everyone inside. Robin sat in the front while you, Max, and Dustin sat in the back. Steve quickly began driving, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Geez, my head is killing me." You groaned rolling your eyes. "I have some ibuprofen and water in my bag." Max looked at you, removing her bag. She poured out three pills, handing you the unopened bottle of water. "Thanks." You smiled at her, grabbing them from her hands. You opened the bottle of water, tossing the pills into your mouth before swallowing them down with water. "So, what is the plan if Eddie is at this guy's house?" Steve asked.

"We warn him about what's going on. Pretty simple." Dustin shrugged. "I think he may already know what's going on or else he wouldn't have left my house this morning without saying anything." You looked at Dustin. "He saw something in that trailer that was unexplainable." Max spoke. "We just ask him what happened that's all."

"You think getting Eddie's side of the story is going to change anything. The cops are probably searching for him right now as we speak. They won't believe that some creature from another dimension killed Chrissy." Steve explained. "Well, let's hope we find him before the cops do." You quickly responded, looking out the window as you passed by the woods.

━━━━━

The night set in quickly. You all slowly got out of the car, flashlights in hand. "This place is super creepy." You whisper, turning on the flashlight. "Tell me about it." Steve agreed. All of you began walking up to the house, approaching it slowly. It seemed like no one was home, all the lights were off. Dustin walked up to the door, knocking on it, "Eddie it's Dustin!" Dustin yelled. "Eddie, we just wanna talk are you there?!" Dustin knocked even harder. "Listen, man, there's no cops or nothing! Just you and me! One on one!" Dustin yelled again, growing desperate.

You let out a sigh, looking at your surroundings. You walked over to the window, shining your flashlight into it. It looks like the house has been empty for days, maybe even months. "Rick! Reefer Rick!" Dustin yelled. "Hey man, don't go screaming that!" Steve slapped Dustin on the arm. You took a deep breath, walking over to the side of the house as Dustin and Steve gave up knocking on the door.

"You in there, Eddie?" Dustin peeked through the window. Your brows furrowed as you heard the squeak of a door. A boathouse. "Guys," you called out, pointing your light at the boathouse, "I don't think he's in the house." You slowly walked toward the boathouse before Steve put his arm out in front of you, "I'll go first." He looked at you. "Go ahead my knight in shining armor." You spoke in a sarcastic tone, gesturing with your hands towards the boathouse in the process. Everyone followed behind Steve as he slowly opened the wooden door.

"It's so creepy in here. I hate it." Max said in disgust, looking around. "Steve, what are you doing?" Dustin asked. "Something dangerous might be in there, man." He poked at the tarp that covered the boat with an ore. "And you're gonna save all of us with your ore?" Dustin questioned. "Well, yeah." He continued poking at the boat. Robin scoffed, walking over to you. "So," she looked at you, "what's going on with you?" She whispered. "What do you mean?" You asked, glancing over your shoulder. "I mean-"

"Hey! Hey! Woah! Woah!" Steve screamed causing everyone to look in his direction. His body was pressed up against the wall, a broken bottle to his throat by no one other than Eddie. "Eddie! Eddie, it's me, Dustin! Eddie!" Dustin yelled trying to diffuse the situation. Eddie tightened his grip on Steve's shirt, causing him to wince. "Eddie! Just calm down! We just wanna talk!" Dustin yelled, trying to get through to him. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"I swear we just wanna talk. Just let Steve go, alright? He's cool. We're cool. Look," Dustin pointed at you, "even y/n is here. Just calm down." Dustin spoke calmly this time. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Eddie let go of Steve. Eddie slid down the wall, the broken bottle still in hand. He had that same look on his face from yesterday night. "Eddie," you walked over next to Dustin, "I need you to tell me what happened so we can help you." You spoke, bending down to his level. His hands were shaking as he sat there in silence. "Tell us what happened." You reached for the bottle only for him to flinch away like last time. "You won't believe me."

"Try us." Max stated, staring at Eddie. Eddie looked at Max and then at you before looking back at the ground. "S-she started floating, fucking floating," he shook his head.

"She just hung there, in the air. And then her bo-" Eddie paused, "her bones started to snap," He looked at all of us. "And her eyes man, it was like...it was like something was inside of her head, pulling," he motioned with his hands. "I didn't know what to do, so I just ran. I left her there," his lip trembled. "You all think I'm crazy." He scoffed. "No, no, we believe you." Dustin assured. "Don't bullshit me!" Eddie grew defensive. "We're not bullshitting you." You looked at him. "Listen, what I'm about to tell you might seem...a little difficult." Dustin looked at Eddie. "Okay." Eddie said in an unsure tone.

"You know how people say Hawkins is cursed? They're not too far off. There's another world, another place beneath Hawkins. And sometimes it leaks into our world." Dustin informed him. "Are you talking about ghosts and shit?" Eddie questioned, looking at Dustin. "Worse." Max chimed in. "Last night, did you see something kill Chrissy?" You asked Eddie. "Dark particles maybe?" Max asked, tilting her head. "It would almost look like dust." Dustin added. Eddie shook his head, "no, no, man. There was nothing you could see. Nothing you could uh- touch." Eddie informed.

Steve looked at Eddie, furrowing his brows. "I tried to wake her up, but she was like...in a trance or something." Eddie added. You grew confused, looking back at Robin. "Or like she was under a spell." Dustin spoke softly. "A curse." Eddie realized. "Vecna's curse." Dustin spoke. "Who the hell is Vecna?" You asked looking at Dustin. Everyone else was wondering the same, their confused expressions making it obvious. "An undead creature of great power." Dustin said in shock. "A spell caster." Eddie continued to look at Dustin. "A dark wizard."

"Have you guys fought this Vecna guy before?" You looked at Dustin and then at Max. Max quickly shook her head no. You could see the panic on their faces.

"Shit."

𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬:
Second chapter is here! I hope you're all enjoying this story so far. If you don't already get the hint, it's the plot of stranger things with a mix. I hope you enjoyed!