Chapter 75

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Chapter 75

*The nightmare*

My nightmares had never been this scattered before or this many at any one time. It was like a playlist of my trauma and fears and it was on shuffle.

That should have been my first clue that something was horribly wrong as I continued to be assaulted by wave after wave of terror.

The next thing I remembered is shaking, violent shaking it felt like an earthquake.

Then the sound of a familiar voice and my consciousness finally swam through the terror to remember where and who I was with.

"Eddie! Fuck I'd heard him, why the hell couldn't I see him, hell why couldn't I see anything?! I couldn't move, couldn't see or hear anything. What was the last thing I remembered..? I went to bed, I was snuggled up with Eddie..I had been so tired. Godsfuckingdamnit..the barrier!..Fuck if I couldn't move..was this Vecna?"

Focusing all of my strength I clung to my spell, hoping that if nothing else I could restore the barrier as I chanted into the nothingness that made the void home.

*outside the dream*

Eddie had been sleeping so peacefully, Red's warmth wrapped around him was everything he needed. Then the explosions happened. It took his brain more than a few minutes to register the sounds he was hearing. "Fuck are those explosions!? Wait.." looking down he realized that she hadn't so much as flinched at the sounds.

A desperate denial crept over him as he pulled her away from the nest where she'd fallen asleep against him hands stroking her cheeks, her hair, kissing her lips..nothing no response. "Red..baby...wake up...sweetheart..c'mon...wake up please!?" He could see her chest rising and falling softly, shaking fingertips checked her pulse at her wrist and it thrummed against his touch as always, her skin though was much cooler than normal. He wasn't sure what to do, he knew that those explosions meant something horrible was happening outside this room but he also knew he couldn't leave Red. Frantically racking his brain he remembered a few lines of the song she'd sang in the car yesterday, his voice cracked..tears falling as he sang.

"Goddess in my garden

Sister in my soul

Angel in my armor

Actress in my role,

Daughter of a demon lover

Empress of the hidden face

Priestess of the pagan mother

Ancient queen of inner space,

Polarize me, sensitize me

Criticize me, civilize me

Compensate me, animate me

Complicate me, elevate me"

She lay there unmoving, not even a twitch as she continued breathing but otherwise was unresponsive. Every second she didn't respond was a millennia, so Eddie did the only other thing he could think to do since he knew that if they were under attack the others couldn't help him right now.

Closing his eyes he focused on that ribbon of energy she'd described for him reaching out to her he followed where she had woven the two ribbons of theirs together down and down until he felt her. Wherever he was it was devoid of light, of anything. He reached out for Red trying to pull her into his arms with the energy, he felt agony and terror so sharp it took his breath away. Remembering what she'd taught him he slowly filled her with his energy twining it around her until she glowed dimly in return. Then he heard it, her voice softly chanting over and over and over the words of her spell even as she cried brokenly.

I didn't know how long I'd said the words for or if I'd ever make it out of this place, the constant cloying waves of fear and pain swamped my senses even as I clung to my spell.

I knew that if I could affect the world outside of whatever place I was in then I could reach the barrier and save my friends, my husband..my family.

I'd started to wonder if my mind was finally breaking when I felt warmth creeping across my frayed nerves, it felt like the pins and needles when I was getting circulation back and I shivered not realizing how cold I'd been until now.

Clinging to that heat that familiar warmth I grabbed onto it with all that I was and I followed it.

The feeling of Red shivering and panting in his arms somehow managed to pull Eddie out of his focus on their connection. Blinking blearily he looked down to see her clinging to him, her arms tight around his waist and the damp feeling of tears as she sobbed against him.

Shaking his head overwhelmed by a mix of relief and worry he pulled her closer his hand running through her hair as he kissed the top of it "fucking hell Red...really need to stop scaring me like this.." he said with a choked laugh, stroking her back as he wrapped himself around her as best he could.

A desperate knock at the door startled the both of them as Dustin's frantic voice cut through the moment "Red! Eddie! Guys are you ok??!"

It took a few minutes for Eddie to find his voice, which was apparently too long as Dustin swung the door open flashlight in hand his brows high, concern clear on his face. Quickly pulling up the blankets and sheets to firmly cover the both of them as he looked over at Dustin. "...well I was going to say we're ok..mostly but..yea.."

Dustins eyes widened looking over the two of them his concern rose, both of his adoptive parents looked utterly devastated. Remembering what had him running in here to begin with he ran his hand through his tangled curls trying to find out where to start "so the barrier fell down for a bit and the explosions you may have heard were..demodogs meeting..land mines.. turns out Hop had a few.."

My breath caught in my throat as I managed to lift my head and peek out of my spot in Eddie's arms, my brows high in confusion and concern. "So it did fall...shit..was anyone hurt?! Was there any damage?"

He shook his head with a relieved sigh "No, everyone was fine. It was a hell of an alarm clock but no damage minus the craters where the demodogs tripped the mines.."

Seeing the guilt and pain on Red's face and the heartache and terror on Eddie's he shut the door behind him and walked over sitting himself on the edge of the bed.

Normally he might've run screaming and left this til later since as he realized you were both clearly not wearing much of anything but if this was Vecna..he couldn't and wouldn't lose anyone else to that asshole.

"Alright you said you were going to tell me later..it's later. What the hells going on?! I don't think its a coincidence that the barrier falls and you two look like you just did 12 rounds with a bus."

Giggling at Dustin's assessment even as I sniffled, tears still tracking down my cheeks I cuddled closer into the warmth of Eddie's arms under the blankets, kissing his chest and along his tattoos I nuzzled into the warm skin allowing the safety and security he gave me to soak into my bones, giving me courage.

Eddie was utterly torn even as his arms tightened around Red, he savored her kisses, one of his hands stroking her back the other gently carding through her tangled curls as his mind raced.

On one hand he was beyond relieved that she was finally awake and responsive in his arms again, on the other hand he wasn't an idiot he knew just how close he came to losing her again, fucking Vecna nearly drained her dry this time!

Then there was Dustin coming in with this little development, sure he was glad that Hop's traps and shit had held up when the barrier fell, and that it was back up again presumably thanks to his help giving her energy..he just hoped it was enough, the whole thing was a lot for anyone to process. He was more than ready to curl up in a ball with her and sleep; to go for at least 24 hours without having to be afraid for either of their lives.

Dustins brows were high as he tried to patiently wait for a response, getting more worried by the second at how uncharacteristically silent Eddie was, once more confirming just how deep shit must have gotten. Fortunately after a while Red finally spoke up, though her voice was a bare whisper of itself. "I guess I'll tell you about yesterday first cause honestly that memory hurts less at the moment.."

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