The Devil's Gift/The Bloody Handed

6

We start to prepare our things and gather everything together. Eddie quietly rehearses what he's going to play while he sat on his bed.

"So, you choose what you're going to play?"

He looks at me and smirks. "Master of Puppets, baby. Metallica."

"Sweeeet!" Dustin says excitedly.

My jaw drops. "Didn't that like.. come out not too long ago? How did you learn it that fast? It's like.. an eight minute song."

"We get daily practice." He holds his guitar up. He sets it down and then stands up, giving a hand each to Dustin and I. We take it and stand up, looking around.

"We need to start barricading." I say. They both nod and we walk to the main living room of the trailer and start to board up the windows. Dustin takes the back rooms and the ceiling where the openings were.

About an hour later, we were all at work making sure everyone was covered from head to toe.

I pound a hammer into the thick wood tiredly. My arms were tired and sore and refused to work properly unless they were under adrenaline. And tonight was going to be filled with it. It honesty upset me that Eddie was putting himself on the line like this, but I also knew this was the redemption he needed to feel at ease with himself. He was the type of guy to put himself last.

"Going good over there, Sparky?" I hear Eddie call over his shoulder.

"The best I can be." I murmur. I finally stop hammering and drop the piece of metal, rubbing my face. It was finally fortified. My arm felt numb and didn't want to cooperate or coordinate with my brain.

Eddie comes over to me with his hands in his pockets. Dustin emerges from the back. "It's almost as if She was destined to be in the Upside Down," Eddie breathes looking around.

"I don't think anything is," I disagree.

"Alright. Are we ready?" Dustin holds up supplies. Eddie and I exchange a meaningful but anxious glance.

"Yeah, ready as ever." I say firmly.

We step outside, exposed to the world now. There was no cover, no shelter, no nothing. It was just the three of us with our home made weapons, armor, and a guitar.

"I really hope this works." I sigh.

"It will, you gotta have faith." Dustin says.

Eddie takes the front and we head to the top of the RV where we could be the center of attention for the bats. I swallow hard as I look up at the red lightning cracking the sky, warning us what we were going up against. I pull out the Walkie from my back pocket and hold it to my chest ready for us to initiate our phase.

From the top of the RV there was a clear view of the land and Vecna's house. What used to be Victor Creel's. It was a vast dead land that made the eeriest noises, as if it was just waiting for us. Eddie sets down his speakers and amplifier, hooking up the cords and plugging them into their correct holes.

The walkie screeches. "Alright, Clary. Now." I nod to Eddie and he takes his guitar in hand.

The speaker starts to screech as he stands up, his hands braced on the guitar head and it's strings. He looks at me and Dustin, smirks, then looks down at the guitar neck. He places his fingers and looks back up to us.

"You ready for this you motherfuckers?" He takes his fingers and strips off his guitar pic necklace with one yank. He takes the pic and places it against the string, his fingers roughly sliding against the them and creating a loud riff. Dustin and I exchange glances. Eddie then goes in again and starts to play rapidly and swiftly. He bobs head his head down with the beat, his hair flying. Veins were highlighted in his hands as he strains to keep up with the beat.

My heart begins to beat fast out of anxiety. I look out into the distance, covering the top of my forehead with my hands. Dustin looks at Eddie, bobbing his head to the beat and smiling. Suddenly, I see a few black flying specks make their way from behind the tree line.

"They're coming, it's working!" I call out over the piercing noise. My chest rises and deflates rapidly as I try to remain calm. Eddie starts to hit the faster notes and I look back. His head was pointed up at the sky and he was tapping his foot to the beat. There was always something that surprised me about Eddie Munson.

The specks start to slowly turn into a huge blob and their bat noises started to draw closer to us.

"Alright we have to leave! Now, now!" Dustin says. Eddie drops his guitar and we all slide down the hill, kicking up dirt into our mouths and grabbing our weapons from the ground. We start to bolt for the trailer, kicking up dirt behind us. The bats start to sound louder and I run harder.

"Come on!" I yell. We reach the trailer and I swing the door open, Dustin and Eddie pouring inside. Eddie helps me slam the door shut and Dustin hands me a board, hammer, and nails. I take it and place it against the metal, and Eddie hammers the nails in. The metal starts to dent and pound from the force of monsters hitting it witching less than a second apart. Eddie and I push against the door and I pant out of breath, switching my back against the door. I wipe my forehead.

The pounding slowly cedes to be heavy and instead, momentarily stops.

"That. Was... awesome!" Dustin exclaims. Eddie's face lights up and they both jump up in down in success.

"We aren't done just yet." I say firmly. They look at me and both nod. "We have to wait for this to blow over then we should be just fine-"

The screeching starts to sound from the ceiling.

"Shit! They're coming from there too?!" Eddie yells.

"Dustin, you boarded it right?" He nods in response, looking up.

I swallow and look around the room. "There's nothing else we can do- if they break in then we have to escape back through that portal." I look at Eddie who's eyes are fixed on the ground. "Right?" I confirm louder. Eddie snaps his head at me and nods. I brace my hands against the door again as it starts to pound again.

"Dustin, hand me my spear! I have an idea." He tosses it to me and I catch it. "They won't break through if they don't have the numbers to break through those boards. It's all physics."

"But there's thousands!" Dustin exclaims.

"Well, get to stabbing. Through that roof there." I look up at the small opening which was barricaded. "They're going to break through if we don't. And we can't risk them flying into Hawkins. All hell will break loose."

Eddie runs over next to me. "I can stab through the windows there's small holes that-" he looks at the ceiling. "Oh, fuck."

Suddenly, the top of the roof begins to crack. Sharp teeth protrude from the ceiling and the metal starts to rip as a bat tears it's head through.