THE FREAKS ~ Eddie Munson

Chapter Forty-Five: Max

Veronica POV
 
I picked at a loose strand of my shoulder bandage, being the stupid nurse did a shit job at putting it on. I sat emotionlessly in the waiting room, the numbness that had taken over my body moments ago still buzzing within me.

I just wanted to go home.

As I sat in the dull hospital waiting room, I noticed all of the stares and whispers coming my way from around me. I kept telling myself that it was because of my bloodstained band tee and the tear stains upon my cheeks, but deep down I knew the real reason behind their stares.

His blood covered me from head to toe. It was all over me; streaks of it abstractly placed among my arms and legs. This shirt was completely ruined, almost every piece of it covered in blood. I refused to clean up.

His blood covering me reminded me of his hugs. His hugs would cause our bodies to melt together...just like his blood was melting into my skin—sticking too me; not letting go.

I tried to drown out the constant voices talking about the four splits in Hawkins. I couldn't listen. Almost everyone seemed to be frantic.

All of that just reminded me that we lost.

"Veronica Ferguson?" A stern voice spoke, causing my head to immediately snap upwards. My mind immediately darted to a doctor...maybe coming to tell me that Eddie was alright, that he could come home.

But instead I was faced with Chief Powell, my body immediately melting back into numbness. Fucking damn it.

I looked back down, ignoring him.

"Veronica, I need to ask you a few questions. Do you have a moment?" He asked, resting his thumbs inside of his pockets and standing over me with authority.

I almost laughed. Do I have a moment?

Oh boy, did I have a moment?!

I had the same amount of moments as him, I had all the time in the world! The world could end at any moment now, so technically I did have a moment.

We all had a fucking moment.

"Veronica-" He began, his sentence pausing as I looked up at him blankly.

Chief Powell took a deep breath, his eyes trailing from my tearstained cheeks all the way down to my bloodstained clothes.

Fuck you.

"It was all an illusion." I spoke, not even caring if I made sense or not.

Chief Powell furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, waiting warily for my explanation.

What a fucking joke.

"The mall fire, the missing people, the random deaths...It was all a coverup. You need to start seeing things how they really are. You really think you'd be good at your job, earning the chief status and all; turns out you were just the best out of the worst...the second choice. I know that because if you were a good chief of police, you would actually know the fucked up underworld shit that goes on in your town." I seethed, Chief Powell taken aback by my words.

He stood up straight, licking his lips in frustration.

"I did not come here to be analyzed, Miss Ferguson. I came here to get answers on what is going on here!" He replied, my words obviously getting to him.

I scoffed.

"Oh so now you try to get answers. It's been four years, Chief Powell. Four!! I've been here for not even a month and I've figured out everything, been put through all of it...It's ridiculous! It's like you bullshit your way through your job...you don't care about anyone here! If you did, you would have helped us...just like Chief Hopper helped them all those years. He cared. You obviously don't...and if you do...you don't care enough." I finished, tears springing into my eyes. I couldn't take this anymore...I'd never even met the old chief of police, yet I have so much respect for him. In the moment I was honestly just using him against Powell, but that didn't make my respect for him any less.

Powell pursed his lips, obviously trying to hold back from yelling. He was frustrated, rocking back and forth on his feet as if he was extremely offended and didn't know how to take my words.

He then took a deep breath, his head tilting a bit.

"Veronica, what do you mean by 'underworld shit'. Are you saying that Jim Hopper was involved in Eddie's cult?" He asked, his voice remaining calm.

I couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.

"You're fucking unbelievable." I mumbled, looking at my hands in my lap.

Chief Powell let out a sigh, him obviously over this conversation.

"Veronica, I-"

"There's no cult, Chief Powell! Don't you get it?! There's another world under this town...a world that's trying to take over ours!" I explained, Powell immediately taking out a notepad and pen. He wrote a few things down, causing anger to bubble through my veins.

"Fuck this." I said in disbelief, standing up and walking away from him.

Powell immediately turned around, watching me as I walked away.

"Maybe Jason was right...her brain has turned to mush." I heard him mumble to himself from behind me, my jaw immediately clenching.

Don't let him get to you, Veronica. Be chill.

I took a deep breath.

I walked up to the counter, the nurses eyeing me down like I was about to fucking rob them or something. The one sitting in the chair in front of me gave me a wary look before finally speaking to me.

"How may I help you?" She asked, her voice a bit shaky.

I mentally rolled my eyes.

"I need to see Ed-" I began, my voice immediately being cut off by absolute chaos.

My head immediately whipped around to see a stretcher being pushed in through the doors, medics freaking out as Lucas and Erica followed quickly after them.

My eyes went wide.

Max.

I quickly sprinted in their direction, my heart beating out of my chest. She needed to be okay...she needed to be okay.

As Max was wheeled off into a room, one of the medics quickly stopped us.

"No visitors yet." He spoke, quickly shutting the door and leaving Lucas to cry on Erica's shoulder. Erica herself began to cry, the two of them not even noticing my presence.

She was gone. She had to be.

I began to tear up, staring at the now closed off hospital room.

"V...?" Lucas' shaky voice spoke, a tear slipping down my cheek.

My head immediately turned to look at them, Lucas' swollen, bloodshot eyes and tearstained face causing chills to go down my entire body.

She was gone.

Guilt rushed through my veins, every bone in my body aching with regret.

It should have been me.

I began to sob, Lucas and Erica immediately pulling me into their hug.

We all cried. Hard.

"Is she...?" I managed to say, still having a slight bit of hope in my heart.

Both of them stayed silent, Lucas' sobs echoing throughout the hallway.

I began to cry more, the silence loud.

We all held each other for a few moments, our sobs painful...bone chilling.

"And Eddie?" Lucas spoke up between sobs, the feeling of my heart being grabbed and squeezed out of my body hitting me like a train.

I choked out my sobs.

"I don't know." I managed to get out, all of us continuing to cry even more.

A/N
THIS IS ALL I HAVE💀💀💀IM SORRY I JUST DECIDED THAT POSTING WHAT I HAVE INSTEAD OF MAKING YALL WAIT A DAY WAS BETTER SO💓💓EVERYONE PROBABLY FORGOT ABT THIS BOOK LOL IM SO SORRY🤛😭😭😭

Happier times to come I swear🤗