Freaks | Eddie Munson x OC

Three

The sky got dark fast and by the time we got to the place, it was pitch black. We went to the front door and Dustin rings the bell. Nothing. He rings it again. Nothing. The bell went off several times rapidly and still nothing.

"Oookay. Well that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve suggested.

"Eddie! It's Dustin!"

"Wow. Okay." I step away from the door. I stood waiting, almost falling asleep as Dustin continues to yell at the door.

"Hey! Guys?" Max yells. We walk over to the side of the house where Max pointed her flashlight at a boathouse.

A few of us shine our light through the window. I had an eerie feeling and the abandoned area did not help. Robin slowly creaks open the door, greeting nervously with me holding onto her in fear.

"What a dump." Steve says a little too loud for my paranoia to accept.

I grab an oar from the wall and Steve copies. We give eachother a glance before nudging inside the boat that had a tarp over it.

"What are you doing!" I ignored Dustin.

"He might be in here." Steve and I continue to poke the tarp.

"So take the tarp off!" He suggests.

"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off!" I whisper.

There was definitely something under the tarp but I didn't want to say anything in fear of what was under it.

"Hey. Look over here." Max calls. "Someone was here." In front of her was a pile of wrappers and trash.

"Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran." Robin says with her raspy voice.

"Don't worry. Jade and Steve will get him with their oars!" Dustin ironized. I sent him a glare before continuing to poke.

"I know you think youre being funny Henderson but considering everyone in this room, maybe besides Jade, has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don't find it funny in the slight-"

Steve was cut off by someone or something jumping out of the boat and pinning me to the wall. Eddie dragged me to the wall with me yelling and held a weapon to my neck. Everyone in the room yells along with me while I start thinking of my last moments.

"Um yeah I think I'm in a near-death situation. Any tips?" I giggle nervously.

"Eddie! Stop! Eddie! Eddie! It's me! It's Dustin. That's Jade. We're not hurting you, right, Jade?"

"I don't know I'm thinking about it."

"Jade. Why don't you drop the oar?"

I let go of it and Eddie's grip on me gets harder, making me take a big breath in, trying to remain calm.

"Eddie!"

"What are you doing here?" He mumbles. He was inches away from me now.

"I've asked myself that like fifty times today." I forced myself to make eye contact with him.

"We're looking for you." Dustin assures.

"Were here to help." Robin adds.

"Eddie, these are my friends. And you know Jade. And Robin, from band. This is Max. The one who never wants to play D&D. Eddie. We're on your side." Eddie didn't look convinced. "I swear on my mother! Right guys?"

"Yeah, yes. We swear. On Dustin's mother." Robin aggressively nods.

"Mhm Dustin's- Dustin's mother." I breathe.

Eddie looks at me, deeply, before letting me go. I slide down the wall and breathe in relief. Eddie does the same next to me.

"Eddie. We just want to talk."

"We want to know what happened." Dustin and Robin slowly approach Eddie.

"You won't believe me." He sniffles.

"Try us." Max speaks softly.

Eddie explained how Chrissy died in detail. I started to feel bad for him. He's never seen anything like this nor knew that it was possible and neither did I. But the rest of them have seen things worse. I sat, staring at the ground in silence as he stuttered through his story.

"You all think I'm crazy, right?"

"No. We don't think you're crazy."

"No- Don't bullshit me man! I know how this sounds."

"Were not bullshitting you."

"We believe you." Robin and max tried to calm him.

"Look, what I'm about to tell you might me a little difficult to take." Dustin started.

"Okay."

"You know how people say Hawkins is... cursed? They're not... way off. There's another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours."

"Like ghosts 'n shit?"

"There are some things... worse than ghosts." Max adds.

"These monsters from the other world, we though they were gone. But they've come back before. And that's why we needed to find you."

"If theyre back again, we need to know."

They continued explaining shit that sounded completely insane. For the past ten minutes I had been sitting, frozen.

"We're gonna go find more leads. But for now, we don't want you alone. So Jade will be staying with you." Dustin explains.

A series of "Woah"s and "Hey"s come from Eddie and I.

"I did not agree to that!" I stand up for the first time in about twenty minutes.

"Look, Jade." I protested over Dustin. "Jade!" I suddenly stopped and sat back down in defeat. "You and Eddie have never been through any of this before. It only makes sense that you stick together! You wouldn't be a help to us without the knowledge we have from our past encounters anyway."

"Fine. Whatever. Go."

"Thank you. We'll be back I promise."

The four of them drive away, leaving Eddie and I sitting on the dirty cold ground in silence. I listened as they drove away. I was exhausted.

"Hey. Um— sorry. About earlier." Eddie mumbled after a while.

I turned to face him with my face on my arms over my knees. "I poked you." I chuckled.

"With an oar." We both giggle like kids, looking into each other's eyes. I was too exhausted to hate him. "I never thought you would be the one to come save me."

"I just went to see who was murdered but here I am. Your hero."

He scooted closer to me, his warmth got rid of the cold breeze. We sat like that for hours until we both finally fell asleep. My head rested on his shoulder and his rested on my head. What I hated was that I felt safe.

I liked it.