Chrissy&Eddie

Chapter 8: The Final Straw

"Cunningham? Is that you?" 

Chrissy felt herself lurch forward as the surroundings tore apart, pressure building in her head that almost mimicked the sound of bells. The faint blue hue was rapidly dissipating and Chrissy tried to claw at it, desperate to figure out what Eddie Munson had done to her.

The boy stood behind her, wringing his hands together as he frowned at her. Chrissy was a few feet ahead of him, heels lifted slightly off the floor and stood steadfast. 

The pressure ebbed away until she felt the solid ground of Hawkins at her feet, scuffing it with the ball of her foot.  Then she turned on the unsuspecting Eddie Munson. 

His shoulders relaxed as she stared at him and he opened his mouth to say something, but no sooner than he had, Chrissy was at his chest. Pounding onto his t-shirt, she hit him over and over, sweat forming in beads over her nose and forehead as she started to shout.

"Just leave me alone! What the fuck is your problem?" A stream of angry words bubbled out of her as he stared at her, big eyes wide open in shock like he hadn't quite registered what was going on. Her breathing began to deepen and she heaved in and out, slowing down the pace of her hitting. Eddie was well over the sidewalk and onto the grass by now. At every contact he tumbled back, trying to catch her fists with his hands, but Chrissy was furious. In this moment, nothing would stop her. This boy had tormented her with his ridiculous trickery and she no longer felt scared; she wanted to make him pay.

"Stop it!" he exclaimed, ducking his face as he tried to dodge her, eventually collapsing to the ground and pushing himself against a tree as he recoiled in shock. "The fuck is going on?"

Chrissy stopped, taking a deep breath in and finding her footing as she swayed on the grass. "You are evil," she panted, tortured eyes burning into his. "I don't know what you're doing, I don't know how you're doing it, but when I do I will..." She closed her eyes at a loss for words, trying desperately to unscramble her brain.

"What are you talking about?"

"Go on then," she continued. "I'm right here, do it now."

"Do what now?"

"Don't be a coward, do it!" He shook his head, face completely empty, and for the first time Chrissy felt a shadow of a doubt. It had to be him, there was no other reasonable explanation, yet he looked so lost, almost vulnerable, as he leant firmly against the tree.

But just as she had started to doubt herself, she felt the ground break under her feet. It felt less stable and worldly, almost as though she was clinging onto it. Sure enough, when she looked up the Hawkins air was clouded by tiny particles of ashy substance and there was a cool tinge to the sky. 

"Come on out Eddie," she called, ditching the feeling of terror as she wandered through the street. A smile almost tilted her lips up as she basked in this feeling of utter madness. Chrissy felt crazy, like she could tackle anything. Maybe Eddie had given her drugs, maybe she was just high of mania, but in that moment she felt invincible. Nothing could hurt her.

From the tree on the edge of the sidewalk however, Eddie was staring at Chrissy. Her eyelids were fluttering in a way that they might if she were sleeping in a breeze, except it had been still outside for days. "Chrissy?" he murmured, watching her carefully as she seemed to lean onto her tiptoes. He edged around her, worried that she might suddenly open her eyes and turn on him again. But the girl almost had an air of weightlessness about her. It struck him as strange, so he held out his hand to shake her.

Chrissy did not feel it. She did not feel anything as she walked, aware of the sounds around her. "I don't care!" she shouted into the emptiness. "Come and get me, you can't hurt me!"