no one lives forever || part 2

o9 || delilah

Delilah shot up straight, inhaling sharply as she dropped the old casing of a ballpoint ink pen. It clattered on the glass table in front of her and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. The euphoria she felt was like no other. It shut everything bad out. It even kept Vecna at bay. Nothing he said to her or made monster Eddie say to her mattered. So what if she was a burnout? So what if she flunked out of school because she was partying too much? So what if she was responsible for Eddie? She shook the thought from her mind before glancing over to Rick who was chuckling and patting her on the back. Colton was nowhere to be seen that particular evening. Thankfully, she thought. She felt uncomfortable enough with Rick, let alone his consistently more inebriated friend.

Her comfort had definitely changed around him however. She had visited him a couple more times throughout the month and had even spent the night. Not in that way, not from lack of trying on his part. If there was one thing Delilah could say about Rick, it was that he was determined and had a great laugh. It was one of those infectious kinds that made his whole face scrunch up and his eyes to thin out. Everytime he laughed, it looked like he was genuinely enjoying himself. Something Delilah didn't remember how to do until coke. She hated to be that cliche, but it was true. It only lasted about an hour for her unless she really went in on it. She had planned on doing so that particular evening.

"You're becoming a real natural,flower," Rick said, nudging her lightly on her side.

"Don't call me that," Delilah said, blinking the tears out of her eyes as she smudged them away carefully under her mascara-covered lashes. She still hated that and Rick was constantly calling her by it. He claimed that if he said it enough, she would like it again. He also said he could moan it out in bed if she'd rather. His attempts were resilient but met with much disdain from Delilah. Even though she would be lying if she said she wasn't being worn down.

"You want a beer, flower?" He asked, elongating it just to piss her off.

"Yeah," She said, groaning and rolling her eyes at him, "Can I go again?" She asked before leaning over the next line with the pen container in her nose.

"Wait your turn!" He said with a laugh before there was a knock on the door, "Hey will you get that?" He hollered at her over the stereo that was bumping Janis Joplin's Ball and Chain, her personal choice.

She appreciated that Rick let her put on movies and music that made her feel more comfortable. She knew it was just so he could try and hook up with her, but it still was a kind gesture nonetheless. She pushed herself up, dropping the pen down onto the table once again and making her way towards the door. She figured it was Colton, though he didn't have a propensity for knocking on most occasions. At least the times she had been there. None of his friends really did. She pulled the door open and looked upon a handsome guy with curly brown hair, ripped jeans, and a Stryper t-shirt on. She froze in her place, realizing she was dreaming. Was it the cocaine? Was she tripping in a bad way? There was no way on earth that this could be real.

Her hand clasped quickly over her mouth as she stood in horror. Any minute now, he would turn into the winged, fanged, creature she had grown to know in her nightmares. That's how it always went. It would start out normal and safe and comforting and would turn into a blood spilling night terror. She watched as he offered her a half hearted smile and shook his head lightly. His wavy hair bouncing in the evening sunset that bounced beautifully off of the lake behind them. Her instincts told her to reach out to him, to hold him, to cry on him, to tell him how much she missed him. But she knew it wasn't reality. She couldn't be. It couldn't be. He looked nervous, a way Eddie never looked in her dreams. He looked like he could cry, another tell tale sign that this was not a dream.

If it wasn't, she didn't know what to do. Her mind was still spiraling from the cocaine as his lips parted and words came out, "Hey D-"

She slapped him swiftly across the face, expecting for him to either turn into a creature or react like human, normal Eddie would. She watched as he looked down, his hair falling into his face as tears leapt to her eyes. Where was the monster? Where was he when she needed him? This couldn't be real. Eddie could not be standing there in front of her. She watched Steve carry his body out of the upside down. She had held him in his final breaths, after the bats. She took a couple of horrified steps back before Rick was behind her.