𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 ── eddie munson

007

"Aren't you gonna tell your friend we're hiding in his...creepy shed?" Lola queried, trying hard not to slip on the myriad of wet leaves. It was nearing the end of March, the remnants of winter still partly remained and caused hindrance to their expedition. Goosebumps littered the girl's pale chest and legs as they approached the outbuilding, a singular lamp hanging atop of the entrance lighting their path. 

"Nah, he'd cut me in my sleep if I woke him now. I usually just leave a crate of beer on his doorstep, sometimes a note... or something."

They entered, Eddie went first, knocking a few empty cans and cereal boxes out the way, "I guess I left it pretty messy in here last time."

He pulled the scraggly wire in the corner of the room, a singular lightbulb illuminated it's respective area, but it was so dull that most of the room remained dark, leaving the pair to rely on the pale moonlight leaking through the windows. It wasn't any less creepy, but at least they were alone, where nothing so sinister could hurt them again... for now. They didn't speak again for a while after that, Eddie cleaned up for a bit, adjusting the collection of fishing paraphernalia adorning the walls. It wasn't very warm or homely, but it was isolated in the back of beyond and at that moment, that was all that mattered to Lola, who took refuge on the cold floor. 

There was an old beaten up couch in the corner opposite the light, but Lola didn't feel like being enveloped in complete darkness when her brain tended to act up in such sombre light. She sat, cross legged, the ice-cold floor numbing her bare legs. Eddie silently sat across from her too, perhaps also too scared to sit by himself on the couch, Lola wasn't sure, but the company was nice. It hurt her brain to think about, how almost comical it was that her and Eddie the freak Munson now had some sort of shared trauma. A gentle scoff slipped past her lips.

He looked up immediately, catching her eyes and staring into them for minutes Lola lost track off. Neither of them knew what to say, a million contradicting thoughts spiralling between them, sat staring at each other, both equally at a loss for words. It was the middle of the night, definitely a time where it would be appropriate to sleep, but neither of them could. 

An hour must have passed, maybe more, before the Munson boy finally broke the shared silence, "how you doing, you okay?"

Lola shrugged, running her finger up and down her leg, feeling the ridges in between her goose bumps. "I don't know, I don't know what the fuck happened." Finally, a slither of emotion exuded her stillness. She felt her eyes well up, threatening to fall, the image of Chrissy's corpse sprawled over the floor, her limbs stretched out so unnaturally. She tried to carry on, her throat strained from holding back tears.

"What did you see?" She asked him, her voice cracking in the middle. She wasn't so sure she wanted an answer, as the look on his face told everything. His lips were slightly parted, his dark eyes spread wide.

"I..." he trailed off, eyes boring into the floor next to her legs, "her legs," his eyes began to brim with tears as well, something she never thought she would ever see, "her eyes..."

Eddie couldn't carry on. He buried his face in his hands and shook his head, traumatised at the recent memory. He sniffled twice, before wiping his eyes and coughing, the front he had put on returning. "It wasn't normal, man, she was like possessed or something."

"What, you've never seen a girl float three feet above the ground before?" Lola croaked, a tear gliding down her cheek while she tried to laugh, but it came out incredibly forced and fooled absolutely no one, well, Eddie. Before she knew it, she was crying again. 

Eddie paused, unsure of what to do. He held a singular finger up, gesturing Lola to wait a minute. He had been staring at the poor girl shivering in her pyjamas for over an hour, with only an oversized leather jacket to cover her up, he didn't know what else to do apart from avoid staring for too long. You see, Eddie was not good in these sort of situations. He wasn't assertive or very perceptive, he rarely knew what to do in times of dilemma and he certainly did not play the part of the hero very well at all. All he did know was the least he could do for Lola was get her some warm clothes.

He raided the draws in the back corner, they were decrepit and worn out, but filled with clothes. Half old belongings of his old pal Reefer Rick, and half clothes that he himself had left sporadically over his intermittent visits. He dug out a washed Dio shirt, the red writing barely visible from the wear, and a pair of red tartan pyjama bottoms, the only pants in there that weren't Rick's fishing cargos. 

"Here, you gotta be freezing." Eddie smiled, giving Lola the clothes. He wondered if they would fit right, or if she'd like them... because what if she just plain refused? That would be awkward. He prayed she liked them, and to his relief, a grateful smile breezed over her face. It was genuine, despite everything. 

She thanked him and took the garments and Eddie eventually turned around with an awkward, "I'll just... yeah."

The light from the bulb illuminated the rear of a paddle boat that was mounted on the wall, the convenient reflection of Lola Hargrove's naked back appearing in front of his face while she changed her shirt. His eyes lingered for a few seconds along the curves of her frame before he promptly covered his eyes with his hand, the only sound being the rustling of fabric behind him. 

"Thanks, Dork." Said Lola, a smidgen of her typical self emerging back out. Eddie turned around and couldn't help but smile at the first sight of a girl in his very own clothes. The shirt fit her perfectly, surprisingly not too big, and his pyjama pants hung loosely off her hips. A little mismatched, with the converse, put paired with a hint of rosy glow back in her cheeks made Eddie's lips twitch as he tried to stop smiling. 

"You're so welcome," he replied, racking his brain for something, anything they could do that would keep the slight glow in her cheeks, to keep her smile, then, it hit him. The boy reached into the back pocket of his skinny jeans to retrieve a small plastic bag. He held it up proudly, a feigned smirk playing on his lips, "wanna get blitzed?"

Lola could feel her shoulders become lighter just thinking about it, the vexing images of Chrissy Cunningham fading into the back of her mind as a smile spread across her face. "Are you really asking me that right now?"

"Hell yeah, I'm asking."

"Eddie Munson, you just brought music to my ears." Lola beamed, grinning like nothing bad had ever happened in her life.

Eddie chuckled, shaking the bag in all it's glory. This would keep them occupied until dawn, for sure. 

So, he scoured the shack for his old drug implements and fortunately, after digging through boxes filled with junk, he found his practically historic bong. It was incredibly dusty and covered in stickers ranging from Queen to Led Zeppelin. "This," he elatedly held it up, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, "this is a treasure, an artefact, if you will."

"Queen?" Lola asked, raising an eyebrow with a quizzical smirk.

"I used this... in freshman year." He smiled, blowing the dusty film out of the bowl. 

"All those years ago?" Lola teased, poking fun at how many years he had been held back.

"Oh, haha, real funny you dick. But yeah, all those years ago, when Queen was my favourite band."

"Oh wow, so this is like, a special occasion then. I wish I had brought my camera so we could capture this moment forever." Lola drawled sarcastically, flopping down on the couch with no hesitation, considering how scared she had been not long ago. Eddie planted himself next to her, a bomb of dust erupting from the cushions. Definitely not how she thought she would be spending her night, but it actually wasn't so bad anymore. Eddie wasn't so bad, definitely not as bad as people made him out to be. 

This was going to be an interesting few hours.