Hawkins, Indiana - Circa March 21st, 1986. - Henderson Residence - Night -
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Smoke from a blunt wisped its way into the cool spring air as Eddie Munson let out a breath. His gaze focused idly on the stars above as he let the gentle buzz of the joint do its job.
“Pizza and a smoke…what better night could you ask for after another successful campaign?” he said to no one in particular, given no one else was around. As he went to get another puff, he felt a familiar rubbing sensation near his legs. Looking down, his expression softened as Tews greeted him with a small meow.
“Hey there again, little furry friend. Thought you abandoned me for the party going on inside.” Bending down and giving the cat a few gentle strokes, he was about to pick Tews up when he froze at the loud screeches coming from inside the house. Watching the kitty take off in fear to the back of the house, the older teen quickly put out the blunt and rushed back up the driveway towards the home, half tripping as he went.
“Shit, shit, shit. What’s going on?” he said, slamming open the door. His breath caught in his throat as he took in the horrific scene. On one side of the living room, Dustin and Mike were half-huddled together, half mumbling to one another. On the other side, Chrissy was now dead and oddly mangled in a way no human should be.
Trying his best not to focus on that, he made his way over to the boys, crouching down in front of them, reaching out and making eye contact as best he could. “Hey, hey, look at me. Just me. Are you two alright?” Mike responded first, letting out a small nod. Dustin just stared blankly before nodding as well. Eddie huffed, running a hand through his hair in nervous relief.
“Thank god, ok, good. That’s good.” “Let’s just…come on, get up,” he ushered both of them up onto their feet, one on each side, and led them out of the house quickly.
After making sure both of them were situated in the van, with Dustin in the passenger seat and Mike in the back, Eddie fumbled for his keys and hastily put them in the ignition. The engine sputtered to life, rumbled, the wheels spun, and the vehicle sped off back into the night en route to Forest Hills Trailer Park.
Hawkins, Indiana - Circa March 21st, 1986. — Forest Hills Trailer Park - Night -🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|🚐|
Coming to a stop outside the Munson trailer, the vans headlights dimmed then faded as the engine was shut off. Taking a deep breath, Eddie let it out slowly, muttering, “This is crazy… this is absolutely nuts…” under his breath before getting out and opening the back doors for Mike.
Once he was free, Eddie ushered him to wait up ahead. The lanky teen didn’t say a word, but he grunted in tired understanding before walking off.
Watching him go, Eddie returned to the van and saw Dustin still inside, with the passenger door open. Dustin…who was uncharacteristically quiet the whole ride over. Usually, he’d be abuzz with chatter about anything and everything, from nerd facts that Eddie couldn’t fully follow to ideas about DND characters and future campaigns.
On occasion, he’d even dive into any shared music tastes. Now, he just sat, one hand gripping his shirt as he stared out the window with a faraway gaze.
Approaching him, Eddie went to put a hand on his shoulder, but pulled back when Dustin flinched in surprise, whipping his head up with a look of fear.
“Whoa, easy there. It’s just me. Let’s get you inside too, ok?” The other boy mumbled a quiet “Ok” before stepping beside Eddie as they both made their way towards the trailer and Mike, who was waiting by the door.
Fumbling with his key ring, Eddie found the trailer key and unlocked the door, pushing it open with one smooth motion. Gesturing with a wave of his hand for both younger boys to follow, the trio shuffled inside. Tossing the keys onto the kitchen counter, Eddie vaguely did a quick home tour. “Living Room with Couch and T.V there, Kitchen adjacent to it. Bathroom down the hall to the right, and that’s it,” he said with a subdued dramatic wisp of his hands.
He wasn’t expecting much of a response, given the situation, but he did spot a tiny smile on Dustin’s face, so he considered that a win in trying to boost spirits a bit. Mike, though, did not look amused as he simply let out a small huff of annoyance and flopped down onto the couch. Dustin shrugged, giving Eddie a slightly pitying look before going to check out the V.H.S collection underneath the TV stand.
Brushing off Mike’s response to not being in the mood for Eddie’s usual silly antics given the situation, Eddie awkwardly swayed on the balls of his feet. Can you really blame him for trying to brighten the mood? He clasped his hands together in thought. “Ok then,” he drawled, “Well, since you two are here, I’m going to try and see if I can scrounge up any extra sleeping material.”
Managing to dig up some old blankets from his and Wayne’s rooms and even that small junk closet, Eddie came back to Mike dozing on the couch and Dustin half-nodding off as he sat leaning against it. Smiling at the sight, Eddie quietly covered both teens with the blankets.
“Try and get some rest, you two. We’ll figure out what to make of all of this in the morning. I’m right down the hall if you need anything.”
Dustin gave a small thumbs-up and settled deeper into the blanket as he fully slunk to the floor. Swiftly turning off all the lights, Eddie glanced at their sleeping forms with a look of concern before sighing and trudging down the hall to his own bed. Silently hoping this was all a crazy, insane, bad dream.
Part 1 Here Part 2 Here Part 3 Here
Author Note:
Finally got around to posting the next few parts over on AO3, but forgot to do it here sooo here's the start of that! Hope you enjoy.
