MATILDA, eddie munson.

055.

MARCH 27TH, 1986
📍the upside down — the creel house
22:59 PM

"okay, she's in," erica told them. "initiate phase three."

"she's in," robin repeated into the walkie, talking to dustin and eddie. "initiating phase three."

phase three: dustin and eddie draw the demobats away from the house. also the phase tillie was most concerned about.

"copy that. initiating phase three," dustin replied through the radio.

there were a few moments of silence, before eddie's guitar was heard as he began to play metallica.

tillie smiled, remembering he'd played this exact song when she went to his gig that time, which was also the time when she realized her strong feelings for him. and now, they'd confessed their feelings and even kissed, which all seemed like a dream to the blonde.

it was crazy to her that after all this pining and jealousy, and everyone telling them how much they liked one another, they were finally.. together? not officially, but they'd admitted and kissed and, knowing eddie, it wouldn't take him long to take her on a date and ask her to be his.

"let's hope this works," nancy muttered, watching the house.

almost instantly, the bats began flooding from the house and towards eddie's concert, held on the top of his trailer.

"oh, it's working, alright," tillie swallowed, panicking about the vast amount of bats heading his way.

"they'll be fine, tillie," steve told her reassuringly. "come on. let's go."

they got up from their hiding spot in the playground, beginning to make their way into the actual house.

"is anyone else extremely nervous?" robin asked them as they walked. "or is it just me?"

"it's not just you," tillie said in response. "though i'm more nervous for eddie, dustin and max."

"we can't be nervous," nancy stated. "if we're nervous, or worrying about the others that will make us distracted, and weaker. all you need to do is just clear your minds, of any thoughts whatsoever, okay? just focus on our task and then we can get out of here, and back to the others and everyone will be safe."

"right," tillie nodded, knowing there was no chance she'd be able to rid eddie from her thoughts. he was always on her mind, even more so now that they were embarking on a mission with multiple ways for people to die. the bats, the vines, vecna..

she heard eddie's solo begin to fade as the song came to an end, and prayed that he was now back in his trailer, safe and waiting for her to return to his arms.

cautiously, steve pushed open the door into the old house, making a loud creaking sound.

"oh shit," steve muttered, looking at the vine-ridden floor. vines they weren't allowed to step on. "that's not good." the boy began jumping in between the vines, before asking who was next.

nancy went after him, following the same pattern he did to avoid trampling the tendrils. then, it was robin's turn, who looked to the blonde beside her nervously.

"it's okay," she whispered. "you got this. strong, independent woman, remember?"

"strong, independent woman," robin repeated quietly, before beginning to make her way into the house, tillie shortly behind her.

steve began to lead them up the stairs, towards the attic where vecna would be, the four remaining just as careful to not not step on the tentacles as they were before.

"imagine something just happens right now that completely exposes us," tillie whispered, making them all look at her blankly. "i'm sorry, i become a very negative person when i panic. i just expect the worst. ignore me, and carry on."

once they reached the top of the staircase, they saw the attic door, turned off their flashlights and began to pull out their weapons.

suddenly, a random tremor shook the ground, making them tumble over and hit some vines, alerting vecna of their presence.

"did i just jinx that?" the blonde asked.

they thought all was fine, until a tendril began snaking itself around robin's leg, making the girl look up in panic. before the others could do anything to help, she was quickly thrown back into the wall and several other vines slithered their way around her, keeping her locked in place.

"steve!" the girl screamed, one making its way around her neck. "tillie! nancy!"

using her gun, nancy began hitting the vines, trying to get them to retract from robin, but it was no use. steve and tillie quickly joined the brunette, using their axe and spears to try and break robin free, resulting in the tentacles shrieking loudly.

abruptly, another tendril grabbed onto steve, throwing him into the wall opposite and putting him in the same position as robin, with no means of breaking free.

within seconds, a vine took nancy too, and tillie was the only one left standing.

the blonde grabbed the other spear from her back, spinning around and trying to claw at the vines, trying to free at least one of her friends, but also cautious of one of the tendrils getting her too.

"tillie," steve grunted.

"i'm trying!" she hollered, stabbing one of them that was attempting to slither around her foot.

she threw one of the spears into a vine near steve's arm, freeing it as the tentacle withdrew. but within a second, another had taken its place and steve's arm remained secure against the wall.

"shit, shit, shit," tillie panted, desperately trying to break one of the others free. "guys, isn't working."

"tillie, hurry," nancy choked.

"i'm doing all i can," tillie exclaimed, breathing heavily as she tried to tear the tendril around the brunette's neck.

however, as she focused on that, she didn't see the tentacle wrapping around her right angle, and suddenly her spears were taken from her and discarded to the floor. she was pulled harshly to the ground, slamming her head against the wood, which made blood begin to ooze from her temple.

she felt herself being dragged back, desperately trying to reach for her spears, but found herself just short of them. then, like the others, she was pushed against the wall beside steve, vines tightening around her body and neck. and slowly, she began to choke too.

— 📻🪐🏹 —

decided to update these next few chapters one at a time instead of several at once because i'm evil and like to watch you suffer 🥰

also it greatly pisses me off how like — 📻🪐🏹— sometimes becomes - 📻🪐🏹- this randomly
if anyone knows how to fix it, please lmk! otherwise i'll probably go through and change it because some chapters have — and some have - and that irritates me

WORD COUNT — 1111.