𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫

63. Vecna's Curse

July 4, 1985

Eddie Kaspbrak looked at the machinery in horror as it began to shut down. Hopper quickly grabbed onto the boy's wrist, dragging him away from it just as explosions were happening all around the two of them.

Eddie shut his eyes tightly together as they jumped off the ledge, not knowing if they were about to meet their end.

It felt like hours before the two woke up again, sweat beaded along Eddie's forehead from the heat that surrounded him and Hopper. "Come on." Hopper held his hand out towards the boy,
helping him stand. He let out a small groan as pain immediately shot up his ankle to his calf. "There's a ladder just up there, hopefully, we'll be able to find our way out of this shithole."

Hopper climbed up the ladder first, Eddie following closely behind him. Eddie immediately felt his heart drop inside of his chest as he looked up at the faces of three Russian guards.

"Как вы думаете, куда вы идете?" (Where do you two think you're going?).

The guard grabbed hold of his gun, slamming the bottom onto the side of Hopper's head. "NO!" Eddie yelled, rage radiating throughout his entire body. His body shook with terror as he tried to fight back at the guard, but he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head, black dots forming in his vision. He watched as Hopper was dragged away before he passed out.

What Eddie Kaspbrak didn't know was when he would wake up next, he would be strapped to a chair and be interrogated by Russian soldiers, being forced to do manual labor in a camp.

But yet, the only thing on his mind was that Richie was safe, his boy was safe.

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March 22, 1986

Richie paced around the basement, it was morning now, he had been awake all night. He hadn't even bothered to change his clothes. He couldn't understand what he had seen last night, he was trying too hard to make sense of it. Richie looked around the room, the three out of his five friends were still asleep. Was he worrying for nothing?

He pushed his glasses up as they began to slide down the bridge of his nose, finally, he walked up the stairs, he needed a smoke. When he opened the basement door who he didn't expect to see standing in the Wheeler's living room was Officer Powell.

"What the hell is going on?" The Tozier boy asked, causing his Aunt to turn around, a hand covering her mouth. He had realized her eyes were watering. "What's happening?" He immediately asked the two, his tone slightly softening.

"I think it's best for you to sit down." The officer stated, Richie knew something was wrong. Could this be about what we had seen? He thought as he sat down on the couch. He placed his hands on top of his knees, gripping them tightly from anxiety. "Listen, there's no easy way to say this-"

Richie cut him off, removing his hands from his knees and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Look, if this is about something you think me and Eddie did, it's safe to say we didn't do shit." Karen shifted her eyes nervously towards Powell, Richie took note of this. Was this really what all of this is about?

"It's not what you did, I just have some questions I need you to answer." Richie couldn't help but slightly glare. "Did you see Eddie at all yesterday?" The boy immediately shook his head in response. "Did you talk to him at all on the phone?" Richie nodded his head yes, he didn't understand where this was going. "When you talked with him, did he seem distracted, maybe distressed in any way?"